
Class __EI(ioJlL_ 
Book__rD (04- 

GopyiijihtN^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS 
IN THE YEAR 1906, BY 

ROBERT BOLLARD, 

IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, 
AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 




ROBEKT BOLLARD. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR 



AND 



GOING WEST TO GROW DP WITH THE COUNTRY 



BY 



ROBERT OOLLARD 



PUBL,ISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 

Scotland, South Dakota, 

1906 






[library of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

NOV 30 1906 

CopyrliiM Entry ; 
1 CLASS A )ac.,NO. 
COPY B. . 



ijo my o/d Commander in the Campait^ns 
of JS64 and IS65, before SVichmond and 
^eiersburfff T/irffinia, the late Senerai 
Seor£fe *U/. Coie, a brave and generous 
soldier, this book is dedicated. 



PREPACK. 

I have frequently been asked b}' friends to pub- 
lish my recollections of the Civil War, in which I 
■served on the Union side in various capacities from 
that of a private soldier to Commander of a regiment, 
in the infantry and cavalry branches of the army, 
during" a period that begfan with the outbreak of the 
war and continued to its close, with the exception of 
a few weeks in the latter part of the Summer of 1861, 
and extended to campaigns in Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina and Texas, and I have conclud- 
ed to do so in the following pag'es. I shall also add 
some observations on forty years' experience since the 
war, in going* West to g"row up with the country. 

Scotland, South Dakota, July, 1906. 

Robert Dollard. 



KRKATA. 

1. In index, "Affairs on the Chickahominy" should read 
'Ailairon the Chickahominy." 

2. On page 63, line 25, the word "left" should be '-right." 

3. On page 89, line 27, the word "bargain" should be 
"bargains." 

4. On page 92, line 2, the word • -departments" should be 
"department." 

5. On page 104, line 5, the word "right" should be "left." 

6. On page 207, line 30, the word "witness" should be 
"juror." 

7. On page 231. line 22, the word "state" should be 
"general." 

8. On page 287, after the word "disagreed" in line 20, 
insert the words "with us." 



CONTENTS. 



I 

II 
III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

IX 

X 

XI 

XII 

XIII 
XIV 
XV 
XVI 
XVII 
XVIII 
XIX 
XX 
XXI 
XXII 
XXIII 
XXIV 
XXV 
XXVI 
XXVII 
XXVIII 
XXIX 
XXX 
XXXI 



Introduction '^ 

Service of the Minute Mkn . - - 15 
Return to Army, Burnside Expedition - 40 
Advance on New Berne - - - " ^^ 
Campaigning in North Carolina - - 74 
South Carolina Campaign - - - - 85 
Second Campaign in North Carolina - 92 
Organization of Colored Cavalry - - 98 
Second Battle of Suffolk - - - - 101 
Raid Into North Carolina . - - - 109 
Threatened Mutiny . - - - . Ill 
Preparing for Campaign Before Rich- 
mond AND Petersburg - - - - 113 
Affairs on the Chickahominy - - - 115 
Before Petersburg ----- 119 
Doing Businp:ss with General Butler - 130 
Battle of New Market Heights - - 132 
Gen. Butler. Return to Active Service 139 
Reception to Admiral Farragut - - 143 
The Monroe Doctrine - - - ■ - - l'^^ 
Off for Texas ------ 147 

Service in Texas 152 

Going West to Grow up with the Country 156 

In the L/AND of the Dacotahs - - - 168 

Organization of Douglas County - - 188 

Stories of Early Law Practice - - 205 

Some Curiosities 209 

Governor Ordway on the War Path - 216 

Forming a State Constitution - - - 218 

Miscellaneous Observations - - - 284 

Political N< iTes 288 

Journeying to the Pacific - - - 292 



RECOLLECTIONS OF THE CIVIL WAR, 

AND 

GOING WEST TO GROW UP WITH THE COUNTRY, 



INTRODUCTION. 

Fortj-one years have passed since the setting- sun 
of the southern Confederacy went down never to rise 
ag-ain and the doctrine that the states had the rig-ht 
to themselves decide all questions of difference be- 
tween them and the Union, as to the supremacy of 
either, with its ill-fated child secession was forever 
buried under the slaughter and wreck of the civil war. 

But occasionally a sad note reaches us from the 
South on some great public occasion as though in 
mourning for the fate of the lost cause still embalm- 
ed in heroic memory that is only a just tribute of 
love, admiration and respect for the patriotic spirit 
and unselfish devotion of the sons and daughters of 
that section in a cause which they believed to be as 
sacredly right under the constitution and laws of our 
common country as that for which we fought under 
the starry banner of the Union. From the southern 
point of view the man we called a rebel could point 
with pride and confidence to something in the history 
of his country as a full measure of justification. He 
could call attention to that remarkable state paper, 
the farewell address of the father of his ccuntrj-, as 
proof that the continuance of the Union was then con- 



O INTTRODUCTION. 

sidered a matter of sound and patriotic policy rather 
than a question of constitutional power; he could 
point to the authority of the Virginia and Kentucky 
resolutions of 1798, the former penned by Madison, 
the father of the constitution, and the latter by Jef- 
ferson, the author of the declaration of independence, 
and to the action of the New Eng-landers at the Hart- 
ford convention in 1814, along- the same line, as show- 
ing- that the views then held on the question of the 
sovereig-nty of the states pointed the way to their 
peaceable secession whenever they deemed the hour 
had arrived for the wise and just pursuit of such a 
course, and he could also point to the fact that the 
people of the states of the South who enrolled them- 
selves in the ranks of secession never surrendered the 
doctrine for which these eminent authorities stood in 
the early days of the republic, and therefore they took 
their stand upon it when their domestic institution of 
human slavery became intolerable to the conscience of 
the northern people. But whatever the declarations 
or attitudes of individual statesmen and patriots when 
the nation was in the beg^inning- of its career and the 
limitation of its powers less perfectly understood than 
in later years, the founders of it builded better 
than some of them knew, for by the constitution 
of the Union they inspired a g-rowing love and loyalt}' 
that met in the fullest measure the appeal of Wash- 
ing-ton, in the northern free and border slave states, 
so well expressed in the g-reat speech of Daniel Web- 
ster in the United States senate in 1830, in reply to 
Senator Hayne of South Carolina in these words: 
"Liberty and union, one and inseparable, now and for- 
ever!" A sentiment which called a halt on the advance 
of slavery into the territories, demanded that every 
inch of their soil should be held sacred to liberty and 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

ill the end incorporated itself into the g-overnment fur 
all time. Slavery was the cause and secession the 
means that invited the civil war and all the horrors 
and blessing's that followed in its wake. 

Slavery existed, it is true, in all the states form- 
ed from the colonies, out of which the Union was 
formed, but it g-radually disappeared, except in Dela- 
ware, north of Mason and Dixon's line, whether be- 
cause it was profitless, or repug-nant to the public 
conscience, is not altog-ether free from doubt; perhaps 
both considerations furthered the g-ood work. 

I once heard that prince of orators. Colonel In- 
g-ersoll, say in a public address, "We of the North 
owned slaves but we found it didn't pay, hence we 
concluded it wasn't rig-ht. Anybody can see that a 
thing- isn't rig-ht when it doesn't pay." And Henry 
W. Grady, in his address on the New South before 
the New Eng-land society of New York, put it this 
way: "Had Mr. Tombs said, which he did not say, 
that he would call the roll of his slaves at the. foot cf 
Bunker Hill, he would have been foolish, for he mig-ht 
have known that whenever slavery became entang-led 
in war it must perish; that the chattel in human flesh 
ended forever in New Eng-land when your fathers, not 
to be blamed for parting with what did not pay, sold 
their slaves to our fathers, not to be praised for know- 
ing- a paying- thing- when they saw it." And in this 
connection I recall that in the case of Dred Scott 
ag-ainst Sanford, the decision of which held that Scott 
was the slave of Sanford, notwithstanding- he had 
been voluntarily taken into territory where slavery 
was prohibited by the terms of the Missouri compro- 
mise act, and which did so much to bring- on the war, 
the defendant Sanford was a New Yorker. 

While the public views of the South on the rig-ht 



b INTRODUCTION. 

of secession and slavery, considering the gfeneral 
complicity of the original states in the latter and the 
doctrines held by some of the early statesmen point- 
ing to the correctness of the former, might well rec- 
ommend them to charitable consideration of ante-bel- 
lum northern statesmanship, I imagine we, the boys, 
who made up the Union army, knew little and cared 
less for such matters in facing the great struggle that 
the opening of the year 1861, promised to inaugurate. 
As for myself I well remember that the first political 
slogans I ev^er heard were those of "Fremont and 
Freedom!" "Buchanan and Gradual Emancipation !" 
in the fall of 1S56, when I was fairly entering my 
"teens" and not only quite innocent of any knowledge 
of the great problems of state craft then pending but, 
like many of my older fellow citizens, politically as 
green as the grass that grew along the banks of the 
sparkling streams of my New England home. Fre- 
mont and Freedom I could understand for I had read 
Uncle Tom's Cabin with deep and abiding interest 
and shed bitter tears at his grave. Buchanan and 
Gradual Emancipation was a puzzle, like many anoth- 
er political slogan that has charmed the ear of man 
before and since. "Buchanan and Gradual Emancipa- 
tion" won, particularly the former, but it was its last 
victory for the victorious party was disintegrating 
and other political lines were forming to give success- 
ful battle to slavery in the territories and, as an inci- 
dent of the coming war, wipe the stain of its exist- 
ence and lift the burden of its crushing weight from 
the unfortunate states where it then stood unchal- 
lenged. 

The supreme court of the United States, a major- 
ity of the judges of which were from slaveholding 
states, Judges McLean and Curtis, from Ohio and 



INTRODUCTION 9 

Massachusetts respectively, dissenting-, decided in the 
case of Dred Scott ag-ainst Sanford, that the Missouri 
compromise act, passed by congress in 1820, for the 
admission of Missouri into the Union as a slave state 
and prohibiting- slavery in the territories north of a 
lixed line was unconstitutional, and thus opened the 
question of the extension of slavery into the territo- 
ries where it had been prohibited by that act. The 
free soilers met the situation in national convention 
by declaring- against the soundness of the doctrine of 
that decision and elected Abraham Lincoln as presi- 
dent on their platform. On the political success at 
the polls of the issue thus raised ten of the southern 
states determined to secede from the Union and the 
newspaper reports of their proceeding's overshadowed 
all other topics of the time. I remember one stormy 
nig'ht in the local postofifice of a little villag-e in Mas- 
sachusetts where I lived, after the mail was distrib- 
uted, hearing a loud voiced fellow declare that "se- 
cession is going- to raise h — 11" which General Sher- 
man afterv/ards declared was the true condition of 
war, and most people who have had a taste of it find 
no difficulty in agi-eeing with him. People in our 
section at that time did not take the southern move- 
ments seriously; sometimes the remark was heard, re- 
ferring to the militia: "A half dozen British soldiers 
would whip a whole company of you fellows," while 
others would say "Oh, there will be no war. You'll 
go down to Washington on a steamboat and anchor 
off the city a few days and then come back," or "you'll 
sail down to Charleston, South Carolina, land on the 
dock, march through town at the tune of Yankee 
Doodle, drink a cup of coffee and sail awa}^ for home." 
My earliest recollection goes back to the days 
when I v/as but three or four years of age and lived 



10 INTKODUCTION", 

in that ^yart of the city of Fall River, Massachusetts', 
wliere I was born, overlooking; the beautiful Mount 
Hope Bay, v/ith a larg"e variety of crafts gliding- over 
it in every direction, its opposite shore lined v-ith lit- 
tle farms, dotted with farm houses, fields, orchards 
and g-ardens and above them all, Mount Hope where 
the Indian Chief, King- Philip, fell, risinj^ as thoug^li 
a monument to his memory, and I have often won- 
dered if young- life amid its surrounding-s did not i)i 
larg-e measure take its inclination from them. "As 
the tv/ig- is bent the tree's inclined.'' However tliat 
may be I do not remember a tiine in early life when 
I did not aspire to g-o somewhere oi^t into the un- 
known world Vv^hich inspired the activities I saw g-o- 
ing- on around me but did not altog-ether understand, 
and to do something- that would at least be out of the 
ordinary. 

From my earliest recollections and until I was 
eig-ht or ten years of ag-e the sig-lit of a uniformed 
Hre company, or military compan}^ or a brass band 
with its wonderful drum m.ajor had a ma^ic influence 
over me and I seldom failed to fall into their small 
boy pursuing- columns. As soon as I was old enoug-li 
I joined a military organization, Company B of the 
Fourth Massachusetts Militia, at North Kaston, Mas- 
sachusetts — the town in which lived Oakes and Oliver 
Ames, famed for their connection with the building- 
of the Union Pacific railroad. In this North Easton 
company Oliver Ames, a son of Oakes Ames, several 
times g-overnor of the State of Massachusetts, was one 
of the early members, and one of its lieutenants when 
the war broke out was D. C. Lillie, still living-, a wor- 
thy, venerable and respected g-entleman, whose g-rand- 
father was a captain of artillery and on the staff of 
General Knox in the Revolutionary war, who vv^as the 



iXTKODVCTlDN. 11 

first commander at the West Point Military Academy, 
and whose son, the father of D. C. Lillie, was the 
-eig-hth cadet in number to enter that institution, at a 
more tender age than that fixed for admission in its 
later years. 

Kagfer for distinction of some kind on the Sth day 
of January, 1860, the anniversary of the battle of 
New Orleans, in the little hamlet of Easton Furnace, 
where cannon were manufactured to fig-ht the battles 
of the Revolution, I had occasion to pass the melting- 
works of a furnace which was built with a larg-e brick 
chimney about ninety feet higli. The melter was en- 
g-agfed in the flue attempting- to close a leak which in- 
terfered with the draft and over eig-hty feet above 
him, hang-ing- from the top of the flue lining-, were 
several bricks that threatened to fall with disastrous 
consequences. As he stepped back from his work he 
said, "I'll give twenty- five dollars to any man who'll 
g-et those bricks down." Here was a chance to rise in 
the world. I looked into the flue and asked him if he 
would g-ive it to a boy. He answered with a smile 
that he would, and taking- him at his word, I pulled 
my boots off and started into the fltie to climb to the 
chimnc}' top, amid the jeers of the workmen as to its 
impossibility. The space in the flue was about two 
feet square and the smoke of the furnace below had 
been g-oing- throug-h it for many years, so that the 
walls were covered with a thick coat of soot. I work- 
ed my wa}' up by expanding- my body so that I could 
hold with my back, knees and elbows to the smooth 
walls of the flue and strug-g-le upward. I happened 
to have a silk handkerchief around my neck and I 
soon found it useful to protect my nose and mouth 
and thus avoid suffocation. I went up in stag-es of 
eig-ht or ten feet and stopped at the end of each to 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

breathe and rest. Breathing; was out of the question 
while I was in motion as the space was black as mid- 
nig"ht with the soot g'oing- throug"h it with whirlwind 
force. My friends below, who had sneered at m}- un- 
dertaking-, now beg-g-ed me to try to come back, but 
needing- all my strength to reach the top and believ- 
ing- the descent would prove easv, I continued ray 
journey until I reached the overhang-ing- bricks and 
removed them. I then occupied the chimne}^ top for 
a few minutes' rest and commenced the return trip, 
which proved more difficult than I had anticipated. 
I slid down little by little, but I found it well nig-h 
impossible to avoid a relaxation that would send me 
to the bottom with fatal result. However, I finally' 
got down in safetj', after the strug-g-le of my life, and 
crawled out covered with soot, the hair on my bare 
head standing- up like porcupine quills, my elbows, 
knees and back bruised and bleeding-, and mj^ body 
trembling- with exhaustion. I felt so gfood over my 
success and the plaudits of the villagers, who g-ather- 
ed to g-reet me as I completed the undertaking-, that I 
forg-ave the twenty-five dollars bonus. After that the 
local critics who had compared our militia with the 
British soldiers to our disadvantag-e, whistled out of 
the other corner of their mouths, and admitted that 
I might go to war if it should come, but I would nev- 
er have so dangerous an experience as that of climb- 
ing the chimney. I have found many chimneys to 
climb in life's experiences since then, and have seldom 
passed the opportunity by without attempting to learn 
what was at the top, but not always with success. I 
suppose the motive has been "So to conduct one's life 
as to realize one's self," according to Ibsen's philos- 
ophy. 

My first military experience of interest was at the 



INrfKODUCTION. 1> 

V"agime'ntal muster field at Quincy, Massacliusetts, in 
the fall of 1S50, where we were encamped for several 
davs and put throug-h regnmental drill quite frequent- 
ly, and wound up with dress parade every evening-. 
In the g-Iitter of g-old lace, brass buttons, the stirring- 
music of fife and drums and band, I think I came as 
near to the heaven of human happiness on that de- 
lightful occasion as is possible for mere man in his 
present condition. I remember an incident that oc- 
curred while we were marching- from the railway- sta- 
tion to the field and it recalls others. I was the file 
leader of an earnest young- Irishman named Duffy, 
who to save his soul could not keep step, and he final- 
ly landed on the back of one of my coag-ress g-aiters 
and carried the upper down under my heel, and thus 
I marched until a halt was ordered, as the dig-nity of 
a soldier would not permit any other course, Duffy 
-went to war v/ith us in the following^ spring- as one of 
the "Minute Men" of Massachusetts who responded to 
the first call for troops on April 15, 1861, on the fall 
of Fort Sumter, and being- on picket duty one morn- 
ing- on a plantation near Fortress Monroe, Virg-inia, 
was approached by the owner with an inquiry as to 
what state he was from to which he replied, "I am 
from Massachusetts Sor!" "Then G — d damn 3'^ou 
get out of here," shouted the farmer with g-reat in- 
dig-nation, *'I don't allow any damned Massachusetts 
man on my farm." This was all very nice from the 
standpoint of those who then held that Massachusetts 
and South Carolina were responsible for the war, but 
it was not war and Duffy held his g-round with sol- 
dierly and respectful firmness. Poor fellow, he fell 
two years later in the terrible slaughter that distin- 
guished the assault at Port Hudson as one of the most 
desperate and bloody battles of the war, and thus seal- 
ed his devotion to the land of his adoption. 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

But let me return to Massachusetts and mj mili- 
tary experience. A few weeks after our reg-imental 
muster referred to, the Prince of Wales, present kin;^- 
of Eng-land, visited Boston and the military org-ani- 
zations of the state turned out to do him honor. We 
were lined up on Boston Common to receive him and 
his suite and the g-overnor. Banks, and his staif . How 
we did feast our eyes on them as they dashed forward 
to the reviewing- stand in front of our line on their 
splendidly equipped horses. And how curious we 
were to get a g-ood look at the prince, the duke of 
New Castle and the g-overnor as they passed down our 
front and rear followed by a splendid cavalcade. I 
never was worse tempted to do a thing- I refrained 
from doing- than I was to look over my shoulder and 
g-et another g-ood look at the splendid curiosities as 
they passed along the rear of our line and some of the 
comrades surrendered to the temptation in spite of 
military discipline. What surprised me most and 
disappointed me too, and I suppose the same was true 
of the rest of our boys, was that these distinguished 
personages looked about like other people under simi- 
lar circumstances. The prince appeared to be quite 
tall, slender and graceful, with a pretty pink and 
white face and a prominent nose. The duke of New 
Castle, stout, dark, iron grey and grim; the governor, 
well, like any other fellow would who got his start 
as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory and worked him- 
self up from there to the speakership of the house of 
representatives in congress, the head of his native 
state and later to the command of an army. 

The prince did not look much like the picture we 
have nowadays of Edward the seventh, king of Eng- 
land, but forty-six years have made changes in the 
avoirdupois of some of the rest of us who have not 
otherwise surrendered to the tooth of time. 



CHAPTKR II. 

SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 

Ill February, 1861, Governor Andrew, the war 
g'overnor of Massachusetts, called on the militia or- 
g'anizations of the state for the names of members 
who would volunteer for service in case of war, and 
about fifty per cent of our company, myself among 
the number, responded favorably. It was now begin- 
ning- to look as thoug-h there mig"ht possibly be troub- 
le ahead. Fort Sumter fell on April 13th, 1861, and 
the President issued a call for seventy-five thousand 
men to serve three months, following- which the g-ov- 
ernor of Massachusetts issued the following order: 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
Adjutant General's Office. 

Boston, Aprii, ISth, 1861. 
Sir: I am instructed by his excellency the Commander 
in Chief to order you to muster your command on Boston 
Common forthwith, in compliance with a requisition made 
by the President of the United States. The troops are to go 
to Washington. 

By order of his Excellency, 

John A. Andrew, 

Commander in Chief. 
William Schouler, 
Adjutant General. 

The troops thus called out were afterward known 
in Massachusetts as the "Minute Men," and it has 
been written of these soldiers: 



16 SERVICE OF THK MIXUTK MEN'. 

"Among the various veteran militar}- organiza 
tions, the Minute Men of 1861, seem to have become 
the most popular among" our people. As the name 
implies, its members are those who responded at a 
minute's notice to the first call of President Lincoln 
and Governor Andrew, April 15, 1861; many of them 
merchants, mechanics, business men and students,, 
went direct from their places of business to Faneuil 
Hall, thence to Washington, not in gav uniforms, but 
mostl}^ in citizens' attire, some armed with double- 
barreled shot guns, sporting rifles and various weap- 
ons of defence, to protect our flag and the national 
capital. Many of these men did not have time to see 
their wives or children before hastening av/ay; some 
were school boys, and left school books and dinner 
pails in their haste to get to the front. It is to these 
men credit vshould be g-iven for preserving our country 
and national honor. One of our popular historians 
has written: 'A delay of a half hour in the arrival of 
the Minute Men in Washington would have found our 
capital and the archives of our government in the 
hands of the rebels, who would at once have been rec- 
ognized by England and France,' enemies of our coun- 
try. With this state of affairs it would have been 
nearly impossible for our government to have again 
established itself among the nations of the world. 

"The Minute Men put themselves to the front 
and g-ave our government time to catch its breath. 
The Massachusetts Minute Men of '61 consisted of 
seven separate organizations, viz: 

"First Massachusetts light battery, 118 men; 
commanded by Capt. Asa M. Cook. 

"Third battallion of riflemen, 318 men; command- 
ed by Maj. Charles Devens, Jr. (late Judge Devens.) 

"Third regiment of infantrj-, 447 men; command- 
ed by Col. David W. Wardrop. 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 17 

"Fourth reg-iinent infantry, 635 men; commanded 
by Col. Abner B. Packard. 

"Fifth reg-iment Massachusetts infantr}-, 829 
men; commanded by Col. Samuel C. Lawrence. 

"Sixth regiment Massachusetts infantry, 747 
men; commanded by Col. Kdward F. Jones. 

"Eig"hth reg"iment infantry, 711 men; command- 
ed by Timothy Munroe, afterwards by Col. Edward 
W. Hincks. 

"This made a total of thirty-eig-ht hundred and 
live men. Some of our friends have had an idea that 
these Minute Men were only three months in the ser- 
vice of our country, but at their first camp-fire in 
Faneuil Hall, Boston, 1887, it was shown that of the 
853 Minute Men present all but sixteen again volun- 
teered in defence of our flag and country; 486, or 
over half, having" had experience at the front, were 
made of&cers in new reg"iments and batteries. With 
this ratio it would appear that over two thousand of 
these Minute Men were made officers and did much 
for the discipline and instruction of new regiments." 

On April 16th, 1861, at about 9 o'clock in the 
morning we, myself and several other members of the 
company in our neig^hborhood, were ordered to appear 
armed and equipped for military duty at the armory 
in North Easton, about four miles distant. It was 
the work of a few minutes to put our affairs in order, 
have our white stripes, about an inch wide, sewed 
down the outer seams of our black doeskin Sunday 
trousers and slip them on with our blue uniform dress 
coats, ornamented with white epaulets, adjust our 
white belts which passed over each shoulder and 
crossed in front and rear, running- down to the round- 
about to hold the bayonet scabbard on one side and 
the cartridg-e box on the other, and to place the large 



IS SERVICE OF THK MIKUTB IfEN. 

brass breastplate in position to ward off cannon balls, 
bullets, baj^onet thrusts, etc., I suspect, and adjust 
our hats, as tall as the ordinary stovepipe article, 
and, except the visor, much like the form of a bean 
baking- pot turned bottum side up. It may have been 
formed on the Boston bean pot as a model. A short 
staff grew up near the front and top of this hat about 
a couple of inches which had a white ball,, a pompon, 
on it. 

At 12 o'clock, noon, we were at the armory with 
our guns, flint lock muskets altered into percussion 
cap arms, and about 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon 
we left by railwa3^ train for Boston, tv/enty miles 
away. On our arrival we were marched to Faneuil 
Hall, the rendezvous of our regiment, and of the 
Eighth Massachusetts, that a little later under Gen- 
eral Butler, made, with the Seventh New York, the 
march from Annapolis, Md., to Annapolis Junction, 
reconstructing engines, cars and tracks, which the se- 
cessionists had destroyed or disabled. 

In this noted hall, called The Cradle of Liberty, 
the body of the first man killed in the revolution — a 
mulatto man — was laid in state; assemblies on great 
patriotic and public spirited occasions, gathered here 
to set the ball rolling; here Daniel Webster defended 
the fugitive slave law and called down upon his ven- 
erable head the eloquent and scathing condemnation 
of his abolition friends, some of whom preferred a 
dissolution of the Union to further compromise with 
slavery; and here, in the rear of the rostrum, stands 
a grand picture in oil showing the assembled senate 
with Webster, life size, in the foreground, as he clos- 
ed his great speech in reply to Hayne, with "Liberty 
and union, one and inseparable, now and forever," 
and here you can hardly look at him and recall the 



SERVICE OK THE MINUTE MEN. 19 

occasion and speech, without feelin.if that he has his 
country in his arms and is holding" it to his heart. 

When we arrived in Boston v/e had neither mili- 
tary overcoats, knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, 
blankets, nor clothing- not on our backs, but we were 
soon amply provided for. The two reg'inients refer- 
red to bivouacked in Faneuil Hall that nig-ht and 
slept on benches, floor and platform. The next fore- 
noon a call came for ten picked men from our compa- 
ny and I was anxious to be, and was picked. I was 
like most all soldiers who have not been under fire; 
I was spoiling for a fig'ht and the quicker it came the 
better it would suit me. I suspected the war v/as to 
beg-in right there in Boston, as it did in 1775, but I 
was doomed to disappointment for we were marched 
to the state house and put on g-uard in the rotunda, 
where after dinner, hearing the sound of fife and 
drum, we saw a company of about one hundred men 
approaching- with the music in the lead. All were 
dressed in citizen's clothes, except possibly the com- 
missioned officers, and Joseph's coat "was not in if 
when it came to variety in color and character. This 
company was from Cambridg-e and was the first vol- 
unteer military organization for the war. The com- 
pany marched past us and disappeared. I was curi- 
ous to see what the chang-e would be when they re- 
appeared and I was not kept long- in waiting-. Each 
man, except officers, as they marched out, wore a 
g-ray woolen shirt outside of his trousers, as a frock 
coat, similar to General Burnside's reg-iment in the 
early part of the war, and his equipments were put 
on over this shirt. They had caps not unlike those 
worn now; a little broader top with flimsy cloth be- 
tween that and the band so the top could be set to 
suit the disposition of the wearer, according- to his 



20 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 

inclination as an ordinary mortal, a dude, dandj', a 
slug"g-er, etc. Other ununiformed men, recruits to 
reg-ular org^anizations, who followed, were similarly 
rig-g-ed out. 

In the volunteer company referred to was a prom- 
inent lawyer, a kinsman of our lieutenant Lillie, who, 
after the company arrived at Fortress Monroe with 
the Third Massachusetts, Vv-as sent to Washington on 
a mission where he met President Lincoln, who in- 
troduced him to General Scott as Corporal Pierce, 
and as the story goes, the general said: "I am happy 
to meet you Corporal Pierce. I was once a corporal 
myself and while holding- that position during the 
war of 1812, at Hampton, Va., several captured Brit- 
ish oSicers were placed in my charg'e whom I treated 
with dutiful consideration. Years after, since I be- 
came commander of the army, I was traveling- in Eu- 
rope and met several British g-entlemen, one of whom 
related the fact that he and some brother officers 
were held as prisoners of war in charge of one Corpo- 
ral Scott at Hampton, and he treated them so well they 
thought after their release they would like to meet 
him ag-ain but of course, General, he could have been 
no kin of yours." Said I, "Gentlemen, I am Corporal 
Scott!" and it is said the g-eneralrose to the stalwart 
height of his youth as he made this declaration. 

But let us return to the Massachusetts state house. 
Our detail was relieved in the afternoon and returned 
to the company at Faneuil Hall where we were sup- 
plied with haversacks loaded with fresh boiled beef 
and soft bread, and canteens filled with tea or coffee, 
and were eloquently addressed as the old colony regi- 
ment by Governor Andrew. The regiment was then 
marched to the state house where we exchanged our 
old and despised militia guns for Harper's Ferry rifled 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEX. 2i 

'niiiskets, received g-un sling-.s, knapsacks, rubber and 
woolen blankets, overcoats and each one pair of wool- 
en shirts and two pairs of drawers. With these g"en- 
erous donations bundled up in our arms in blissful ig-- 
norance of how to pack our blankets or knapsacks, we 
hurried away to a street near bj to g"ive other com- 
mands an opportunity for supplies. As we were look- 
ing* upon our recent acquisitions and vainly seeking" 
for a way to put them in order, a fellow in the crowd 
— and the streets of Boston were filled on that da}^ 
with a multitude of people — said, "Young" fellow let 
me help you fix them thing-s. I was in the Mexican 
war." I promptl}^ submitted to his direction and 
was grateful for the opportunity; he soon adjusted 
my g-un sling, the use for which I did not know, pack- 
ed m_v knapsack and blankets, fastened them on my 
back in true military style, and thus set the example 
for the rest of the boys who quickly benefited by it. 
When we were all in order the regiment marched to 
the old Colony depot and boarded the train. Before 
it pulled out a young" man named Bellows from the 
neig"hborhood where I lived, who was anxious to g"o 
with us but fearful he could not learn to be a soldier, 
came along- side the car we were in and some of the 
boys seized him by the collar and pulled him head 
foremost throug"h the window into the car; he was 
soon provided with gun and equipments and was as 
g"ood a soldier as any of us, notwithstanding" he was 
the only man in the company not in uniform. He was 
the first man killed in the war; how, I will relate 
when I reach the scene of his death. 

We arrived at Fall River about 10 o'clock in the 
evening- and shortly after embarked on a line steamer, 
the State of Maine, for New York. We arrived in 
New York harbor the next evening" about 4 or 5 



22 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 

o'clock, after a storm y experience on Lonj^ Island 
sound, v/here we anchored for the nig-ht. About the 
time of our arrival Major Anderson of Fort Sumter 
fame sailed into the harbor on his way back from 
that fortification which he had surrendered with the 
honors of war. The nig-ht following- was raw and 
stormy. Colonel KHsworth was parading* the streets 
of New York city with his regiment, the Fire 
Zouaves, before g'oing" south a few days later to meet 
his death in Alexandria, Va., at the hands of Jack- 
son for pulling dovv^n a secession flag that waved 
above his hotel. New York was wild with excite- 
ment, but I suppose this was then true of every city, 
village or hamlet in the land. 

That night, April 18th, I was detciiled for guard 
duty but having a cold I eng-aged Bellows, the sol- 
dier in citizen's clothes, to take my place, which he 
did cheerfully, for he was anxious to learn his mili- 
tary duties. During- the night a bottle of poisoned 
liquor was passed on board to the guards from a 
small boat along side, and "it went the rounds" 
among- them; when it reached Bellows there was lit- 
tle left. He drank the last — but a few swallows — 
with the dreg-s of the bottle and not long- after he be- 
gan to suffer great pain and was relieved from duty 
and came below to his berth in the cabin, which was 
directly over mine. Long- before daylight I heard 
his moans and other signs of suffering and upon ex- 
amination the clothing- around his chest was found to 
be saturated with blood from a wound in the region 
of his heart, which later proved to be slig-ht and v/as 
supposed to have been caused by the point of his 
Bowie knife, the sheath of which was broken, acci- 
dentally cutting him while he was tossing about in 
ag"ony. It was decided that he had been poisoned by 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 23 

the liquor which he drank and he was taken to the 
upper deck for better care and treatment. He died 
at 6 o'clock on the morningf of the 19th, the anni- 
versary of the battle of Lexing-ton, and was the lirst 
man killed in the war; a few hours later on the same 
day, Needham, Ladd and Whitney of the Sixth Mas- 
sachusetts were killed in the streets of Baltimore by 
a mob. Several other men who drank from the same 
bottle suffered from poisoning- but death came to Bel- 
lows only. 

What was the motive for giving- this liquor to the 
soldiers could not be ascertained. We were the first 
regiment to come into the harbor on the way .south 
and it was believed some of the "wharf rats" of New 
York who reg-arded us as "Lincoln hireling-s" did it 
to make an example of the victims. They doubtless 
belong-ed to the same class of ruffians as those who 
shot the soldiers of the Sixth Massachusetts down in 
the streets of Baltimore; later perpetrated the un- 
speakable outrag-es in the New York riot ag-ainst the 
drafting of soldiers to carry on the war; sent boxes of 
clothing- infected with small pox and yellow fever 
g-erms to places in the South g-arrisoned by our troops 
and finally crowned its record of fiendish crimes by 
the assassination of President Lincoln, of all men 
best calculated to finish the g-reat work he was en- 
g-ag-ed in by the reconstruction of the seceding- states 
and the prompt return of their responsible and repre- 
sentative men to the cong-ress of the United States in 
a manner alike creditable and satisfactory to both 
sections, and in harmony with the spirit that charac- 
terized the silent commander when he dictated the 
terms of surrender of the Southern army at Appo- 
mattox. 

Before leaving- Boston for New York some of our 



24 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE M'KK. 

bojs were told by Oakes Ames, the bi^ man of our 
town, who was a member of the g"overnor's council, 
and later a niember of congress, that we were destin- 
ed for Fortress Monroe, Va,, and if there was to be any 
tig-hting: in the South it would be there, as the fort 
bad probably fallen into the hands of the secession- 
ists. On the morning- of April 19th, shortly after the 
death of Bellows, we weig^hed anchor and stood out to 
sea on our voyagfe of conquest. Our vessel was one 
of the old fashioned side-wheel steamers that had been 
used as a passeng-er boat on the Fall River line to 
New York. To me she seemed like an old friend and 
companion for I had known her well from the earliest 
days of my recollection, so I felt quite at home on 
board of her; but she was about as well fitted for the 
service she was then eng-ag-ed in as the holiday sol- 
diers with which she was freig'hted. Fortress Mon- 
roe, as I remember it, covered from forty to eig^hty 
acres; was built at Old Point Comfort, which jutted 
out into Hampton Roads, an arm of the sea in which 
all the navies of the world at that time could ride at 
anchor. The outer wall of the fort rose sixty feet 
above the moat, a body of sea water about five feet 
deep at low tide and one hundred feet wide surround- 
ing- it, crossed by drawbridg-es; this wall was several 
feet thick and built of granite. Above it rose the 
parapet over which the big- guns frowned savag-ely on 
the outside world; beneath the parapet and the rest 
of the ramparts of the fort were larg-e rooms built of 
stone masonry and used as quarters for officers and 
soldiers, mag-azines for ammunition, warehouses for 
storing food supplies, etc., and casements from which 
heavy guns peered throug-h embrasures, and outside 
of all, commanding- the main channel of the Roads, 
was a forty g-un water battery, built of granite on the 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 2o 

front and ends, with a brick arch over each g"un and 
brick floor beneath. The top of the work was made 
of arches and covered several feet deep with earth and 
sodded over. On the Hank of this battery, several 
rods away above hig'h water mark on the beach, was 
a fifteen inch bore grin, the larg-est ever made in this 
country up to that time, in position to rake the chan- 
nel passing- the fort. It was called the Floyd gxm, 
after President Buchanan's secretary of war, who was 
charged with treachery in reducing" our army to the 
minimum number and placing the troops so far away 
from where they mig-ht be needed ag^ainst the seces- 
sionists, and in such scattered bands as not to be 
available when the critical time arrived. 

To take this formidable fortification six hundred 
Yankee militiamen sailed out of New York harbor, 
as I have stated. One shot from the smallest gun in 
the fort fired into our boat on its water line, and its 
g-uns numbered a hundred or more, would have sunk 
us so deep in Hampton Roads that it is doubtful if 
there would have been enough of our topmasts left 
above water to fly the flags with which we went 
down, for it was possibl}^ intended that we should set 
an example for the heroic conduct of the Cumberland 
and Congress which were sunk in those waters by the 
Merrimac during" the following year. 

All day following our departure from New York 
we sailed southward along" the coast over a g"lassy 
sea, which seemed to swell with pride because of the 
burden it was bearing- on its bosom. When night 
came our colors were hauled down and lights put out 
in the parts of the boat occupied by the soldiers. We 
expected to be in hostile waters before daylight and 
desired to conceal ourselves until we were ready for 
the deadly work before us. About 4 o'clock in the 



26 SERVICE OP THE MIXUTE MEX. 

morning-, Saturday, the 20th of April, we were off the 
mouth of Chesapeake bay, and a little steamer ran 
out, sig-hted us, threw up a rocket and disappeared in 
the darkness. We took it for a picket boat of the se- 
cessionists on the lookout for vessels coming' to the 
relief of the fort or to attack it and such it later prov- 
ed to be. Its action added to the evidence we already 
had that we would g^et a warm reception as we dash- 
ed from our steamer over the beach, across the moat, 
scaled the outer wall of the fort and drove the g^un- 
ners from the cannons on the parapet. We had no 
doubt about that rocket saying" to the secessionists on 
shore: "The Yankees are coming-." 

We continued our journey until dayligfht found 
us near "Willoug-hby Spit," a shoal about five miles 
away from Fortress Monroe, where a light boat was 
kept at anchor to warn vessels of the dangers of the 
shoal. Our colors were not flying- because we did not 
desire to advertise our business, as it was the kind of 
business that succeeds best without advertising-. The 
occupants of the fort were suspicious of us and train- 
ed, and kept trained, one of the big- columbiad para- 
pet, or barbette, g-uns on us until they discovered our 
true character, a soldier standing- with the lanyard 
in his hand ready to respond at the command "fire!" 
Had our colors been hoisted, perhaps, they would not 
have been so suspicious of us, but up went "Old Glo- 
ry" in the fort and its folds opened g-racefully with 
the g-entle breeze to receive the welcoming- kisses of 
the morning- sun. There was little doubt now on our 
boat about the secessionists having- the fort, because 
if our folks held it they would have kept the flag- fly- 
ing- all the time so their friends coming- from the sea 
would know they were there. This flag- raising- was 
a trick to deceive us. When we became better sol- 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 27 

(liers and sailors we learned that a vessel always 
shows her colors and that a military post raises and 
lowers its flag" with the rising" and setting of the sun. 
At the time we were passing judgment on the mean- 
ing" of the raising" of the flag" over the fort, Hampton, 
about two miles awaj' from there, was flying" a seces- 
sion flag". 

Notwithstanding our suspicions we steamed bold- 
ly up to the wharf below the fort's guns and the of- 
licer of the day, an artillery captain splendidly uni- 
formed, followed by his orderly, a neatly dressed mu- 
sician, whose dazzling stripes and scales led us to 
think the fort was garrisoned with officers altogether, 
came down to meet us. Mutual g"reetings of relief 
and satisfaction passed between our colonel and the 
officer of the day and I think all of us felt better than 
we Vv'ould have after attempting to attack the strong"- 
hold before us. 

I imagined when we left New Kngland that Fort 
Monroe was a g"loomy stone structure on a barren 
sandy beach about as forbidding a spot as heaven's 
curse could make it; and here spread out before our 
admiring gaze, our eyes fairly feasting" on it, was the 
splendid sight of the fort itself in the grandeur of its 
g"race and magnitude, and outside the moat were nu- 
merous neat little cottag"es surrounded with shrubs 
and flowers the perfumes from which fllled the air to 
such an extent as to take us back to the days of para- 
dise. This was the beg"inning" of war, for this was 
the first hour of the Yankee soldiers' arrival on the 
sacred soil of Virginia, yet to be the dark and bloody 
ground of the g"reatest civil war known to history. 
What a contrast was the future to be with that love- 
able picture of peace and contentment! Civilians there 
were g-enerally regarded as secessionists and some of 



28 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 

them were openly and violently- so in speech; but the 
time was rapidly coming" when all had to gfet on one 
side or the other, and the sides to keep out of rang-e 
of each other except in battle. If Virg-inia had se- 
ceded it was not then known at Fort Monroe. I 
think it had not yet passed the ordinance of seces- 
sion, but did so soon after. On the day we landed 
Robert E. Lee resigned his commission in the United 
States Army to cast his fortunes with his native 
state, which I suspect, regarded us as invaders, and 
perhaps he agreed with her. It used to be said by 
those opposed to war, or many of them, "secession is 
unconstitutional but you cannot coerce a state." 

Shortly after our boat tied up to the wharf, we 
rigged ourselves in presentable shape and marched 
into the fort, where we were assigned to quarters in 
the barracks and then scattered to see the sights. 
The regulars in the garrison numbered two hundred 
and eighty, seven companies reduced to the minimum, 
as previously stated, by Secretary of War Floyd, who 
ran away from his comrades at Fort Donelson the 
next spring through fear of falling into General 
Grant's hands and being sent to the doom he deserv- 
ed, if the stories about him were true. These regu- 
lar soldiers were glad to see us but prophesied that if 
there should be any fighting- they would be thrown 
into the thickest of it as they were professionals, and 
as we were volunteers we would be regarded as pa- 
triots and heroes; that was nice, but at dinner that 
day I was very hung-ry; we had a plate of bean soup 
to each man and a slice of white bread to go along- 
with it. After I had eaten my soup I called the cook 
to tell him I would take another plate of soup and he 
promptly informed me that I could not have it, as I 
had my rations. I don't think I ever had to go to 



SERV1CT3 OF THE MINUTE MEN. 29 

the dictionary to look up any phase of the word ra- 
tions after that. I had it impressed upon my mind 
forever after with a reinforcement such as hungvr 
alone could g'ive. Of course we could go to the sut- 
tler's and buy some stuff to fill up on; but the disap- 
pointment, what could I do with that at the suttler's 
or elsewhere? I sat down at the table that day ex- 
pecting- to eat dinner, instead of that I was cut off 
with "you've had your ration." I was not alone; we 
were all served alike. In that mess was the late 
Elijah Morse, the millionaire ^'Rising- Sun Stove Pol- 
ish" manufacturer, and for man}- years a member of 
congfress from Massachusetts, fie, too, had his ration. 
During- the middle of the forenoon of that day 
the Third Massachusetts came by steamer to the fort 
and on the following- evening", with a solitary drum 
beat, marched to the wharf and boarded the United 
States armed steamer Pawnee for Portsmouth navy 
yard, about fifteen or twenty miles away. It was ru- 
mored that Portsmouth and Norfolk, particularly the 
latter, were swarming- with secessionists, there were 
no rebels 3'et, and some of the old regulars said as 
they saw the regiment march down to the steamer, 
''Many a poor fellow among- them will bite the dust." 
This reg-iment reached the navy yard and with the 
sailors on the Cumberland, which was at anchor there, 
and those of the Pawnee, sank the Merrimac, a sister 
ship of the Colorado, Minnesota and Wabash; burned 
the Pennsylvania, then our larg-est war vessel; de- 
stroyed as much of the navy yard and its naval stores 
and contents as possible, to make it useless to the se- 
cessionists, and returned the following- morning- with- 
out the loss of a man, or even the firing- of a shot, 
bring^ing- with them the Cumberland and its crew, 
commanded by Commodore Penderg-ras, in tow of a 
tug- boat. 



30 SERVICE OF THE ^^ITNUTE MSN. 

During- the year following' the Merrimac Vv'as 
raised by the confederates; her body cut down to a 
gun deck over Vv^hich was erected a roof of railroad 
iron to protect her crew, battery and eng-ines; and in 
the spring- of 1862,. she came out into Hampton Roads, 
sank the Cumberland and Cong-ress at the mouth of 
the James river and treated her sister, the Minnesota,, 
with such consideration as to somewhat mar their 
family relations. But the Monitor coming- in on its 
trial trip from the north proved itself on this surpris- 
ing- monster of the sea so well that the latter return- 
ed to her watery grave a few days later and thus put 
an end to threatened immeasurable injury to the Un- 
ion cause. The crew of the Cumberland sank the 
Merrimac but the Merrimac rose from the g-rave to 
which they consig-ned her to sink both the Cumber- 
land and her crew. 

Not long- after our arrival at Fortress Monroe we 
observed that our secession friends had established a 
picket about a mile from the fort at the end of the 
causewa}' leading- from it to the main land, and that 
but a few steps from it was a picket post for our folks, 
made up of regulars from the fort. This did not look 
unfriendly enough to indicate hostility of a warlike 
nature, but nevertheless that is what it foreshadow- 
ed. We had not been at the fort but a few days be- 
fore the commander of the post. Colonel Dimock, 
moved out with a detachment of regulars armed as 
infantry and a section of a battery. He invited the 
secession guard to fall back, which was promptly 
done, and a picket line of volunteers established by 
us on the main land near the entrance to the cause- 
way. In the early days it was not an infrequent prac- 
tice for our boys who did not relish the army rations 
to go beyond our pickets and throug-h the secession 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 3>\ 

iines to purchase more palatable food, and on such 
occasions the only opposition thev met with was a 
frown from a secession officer or advice from his men 
that they better not pass to the rear of their line. A 
little later the First Vermont joined us. This was a 
splendidly uniformed and equipped regiment com- 
manded by Colonel Phelps, formerly a captain in the 
reg-ular army, who did service among- the Mormons 
before the civil war in the far West with the jet to 
be famous g^enerals, Albert Sidney Johnston and Fitz 
Hug-h Lee. It was said there was not a man in this 
reg-iment less than five feet ten inches tall, and among' 
them was one who later became an officer in the reg-- 
ular army, rose to the rank of colonel and was killed 
at the head of his reg-iment in the Boxer outbreak. 
Iviscomb was his name, I believe. 

After a short stay in the fort and vicinit}- this 
reg-iment broke camp and moved out beyond our pick- 
et line to re-establish itself on g-round that was to be 
the g-eneral camp for the many reg'iments of volun- 
teers expected. This move was a sig-nal for the neg-ro 
slaves to run away from their masters in the adjacent 
territory and penetrate our lines for protection. Gen- 
eral Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts, was one cf 
the brig-adier g-enerals of the militia of that state and 
so strong^ a pro-slavery democrat that when he was 
about to gfo to the national democratic convention at 
Charleston, S. C, in 1860, he is said to have g-iven 
this' answer to a g-entleman who asked him if he was 
g-oing- to'that convention: "Yes, by G — d I am g^oing- 
to the Charleston convention and before I leave I will 
have it fixed so that I can buy and sell a nig-g-er on 
the streets of Lowell," — his home town; and in addi- 
tion to this it was charg-ed that he voted fifty-six 
times in that convention for Jefferson Davis as a pres- 



^3 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN". 

idential candidate. But supporting- slavery as it 
stood under the Dred Scott decision and extravag-ant 
assertions about establishing- it in Lowell, which the 
g^eneral himself did not believe, presented a different 
proposition than that of the destruction of the Union 
in the interest of slavery. General Butler, like many 
other pro-slavery democrats of prominence in the 
North, promptly became a war democrat, responded 
with his brig-ade to the first call for troops and ex- 
hibited so much skill and energ-y as a leader that his 
was one of the earliest promotions to the rank of ma- 
jor g-eneral of volunteers. The g-eneral was assig-ned 
to the command of the Fortress Monroe district and 
troops about the time the Vermont regiment referred 
to arrived there, and was soon to have an opportunity 
to fix the status of the runaway slaves within our 
lines. 

One day I saw a field of&cer of the Vermont regi- 
ment and several nicely dressed and g-enteel looking- 
civilians dash into the fort on horseback and dis- 
mount at General Butler's headquarters. The civil- 
ians came to ask him for the return of their slaves 
and he met them on their own g-round and cut the 
gordian knot. He admitted that slaves were mere 
chattels but as such they mig-ht be used to further the 
cause of the Confederacy and therefore when com- 
ing- from an enemy's territory they were contra- 
band of war, and this was the basis of all song- and 
story of the contraband in civil war times. Under 
this rule, which the Confederates themselves could 
not deny the soundness of, the runaway slaves held 
their liberty until the emancipation proclamation 
went into effect, more than a year and a half later. 

During- the months of May and June several very 
fine New York regiments joined us, among- them the 



SEKVTCK OF THE Mll^-UTK MKN^. 33 

Fifth New York, "Durjea's Zouaves." Comrades of 
the Grand Army of the Republic have occasionally 
seen a surviving- member in full uniform at national 
g-atherings of the G. A. R. They wore red baggy 
legg-ed trousers, canvas leggings, a blue scarf around 
the waist, a small blue loose fitting jacket ornament- 
ed vrith figures in braid, and for caps a red fez with 
blue tassel. In this regiment was G. K. Warren as 
lieutenant colonel, who afterwards as a major gener- 
al commanded the Fifth army corps of the Army of 
the Potomac and was offered the command of that 
army, but Vv-hose distinguished military career was 
brought to a sudden close at Five Forks, just before 
the surrender of General Lee and his army at Appo- 
mattox, b}' an order from the blunt and fiery Sher- 
idan relieving him from command in the face of the 
enemy for lack of energetic action, and v.'hich, upon 
an unsuccessful appeal to a court of inquiry broke his 
manly heart and sent him to an untimely grave. 
Judson Killpatrick, afterwards the famous cavalry 
g-eneral, was a captain in this reg-iment, and the reg- 
iment was itself so good in active service that it be- 
came a part of Syke's division of regulars, most re- 
markable for their effectiveness and fighting quali- 
ties. Another one of these regiments was the Ninth 
New York, "Hawkins' Zouaves," in which our one 
armed soldier friend, Kellog, formerly of Woonsock- 
et, was a member; another was the Tenth New York, 
Arthur Linn of Canton, ex-commander of the soldiers' 
home at Hot Springs, was a member of that regiment. 
All the regiments that came to us from New York 
were good, but those I have mentioned were partic- 
ularh' fine. 

Before the middle of June we had a large army 
where Mr. Buchanan's war secretary had left us but 



34 SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 

two hundred and eig-htj men to g-arrison a fort re- 
quiring- thousands. We who were quartered in the 
fort soon found out that we had something- else to do 
beside strutting- around in our militia uniforms with 
a halo of self-admiration surrounding- us, or borrow- 
ing- the captain's or a lieutenant's coat with g-old 
epauletts to lead a squad of comrades past the guard 
on the main drawbridg-e of the fort to comparative 
liberty and other pleasures on the outside. We were 
frequently detailed to haul big- g-uns from the ord- 
nance yard outside the fort to the parapets on the in- 
side, so that men skilled in the work could mount 
them, and when not at this work we were employed 
in unloading- army supplies, such as bread and meat 
for men and g-rain and hay for animals, from the ves- 
sels laid along- side the wharf. The supplies for the 
soldiers we rolled in barrels from the wharf, what 
seems to me now a half mile or a mile into the fort to 
the monster store houses of the casemates, in which 
it seemed nearly another half mile from their entranc- 
es to the top of the stored barrels where we often fin- 
ished each journey. The food for animals was stored 
outside the fort where the air was much better than 
in the casemates, otherwise we mig-ht have found it 
somewhat disag-reeable, for in this work we were of- 
ten associated with "intelligfent contrabands." I re- 
member one occasion when I had for a partner in roll- 
ing- baled hay a runaway slave as black as nig-ht; he 
at one end of the bale and I at the other as we push- 
ed it up in the store house to the top of the pile. He 
was dressed in linsey woolsey and I had all of my 
nice militia uniform on which I could wear under the 
circumstances. He was g-enerally silent but when he 
spoke to me it was with so much respect I could not 
help associating- him with Uncle Tom, of Uncle Tom's 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 35 

Cabin. The runaway slaves by this time were very 
numerous inside our lines and one of our sources of 
amusement was to g"et squads of them together after 
night fall to dance on bare spots of ground to the 
time supplied by one of their number humming and 
patting on his knees as he bent forward for that pur- 
pose. How the darkies would perspire and kick up 
the dust when encouraged b}' the white folks. The 
salt sea air came very handy on such occasions. 

Along about this time we noticed the first firing 
of hostile guns in our neig-liborhood — a duel between 
the United States gunboat Monticello and the Con- 
federate works at Sewell's Point. The affair did not 
amount to much, merely an exchange of a few shots. 
It was a bloodless engagement. Standing as a sen- 
tinel at the north end of the water battery one morn- 
ing I was hailed from the parapet of the fort by its 
commander and directed to tell the captain of the 
Baltimore boat at the w^harf to proceed no further on 
his trip to Norfolk. I delivered the message and this 
was the beginning of the blockade which lasted until 
the iron-clad Merrimac came out the next spring and 
sank the Cumberland and Congress. Marching the 
sentinel's beat on the parapet in the solemn stillness 
of the night in those days, was interesting; every 
half hour the bells would strike on the war vessels 
and the watch would call out one, two, three, four, 
five, six, seven or eight bells, according to the num- 
ber struck, and "a-l-l-s w-e-1-1." 

After we had been in the fort about six weeks all 
the companies of the regiment except ours, had their 
ranks swelled by a number of recruits and a little 
later the reg'iment was ordered to Newport News for 
the purpose of establishing a post and fortifying it. 
Our company was to be left in the fort because of the 



36 SERVICE OF THE ]MINUTR MKN. 

smallness of our numbers. That we were disappoint- 
ed is putting- it mildly; there was "wailing- and 
gnashing- of teeth." It seemed mig-hty hard that we 
old vets who were first in the field should be ordered 
to g-ive way for the tender feet. The service of all 
was similar, however; they dug- trenches and piled 
up earthworks, while we unloaded, vessels and rolled 
their contents into store houses for the coming- cam- 
paig-n. 

About this time a larg-e steamer came down from 
New York loaded with the hardest looking- lot of male 
humanity I ever cast my eyes upon. It was called a 
"naval brig-ade." As a matter of fact it was a mere 
mob g-athered together from the streets of New York 
city by its colonel, who was believed to be demented, 
under the promise that each man would receive a 
bounty of twenty dollars before sailing and as much 
more v/hen they reached Fortress Monroe. The men 
were dressed in their every day clothes; had received 
no part of the bounty promised; had been poorly fed 
and cared for on the steamer and were bordering on 
mutiny when they landed. Some of them had lost 
an eye, an arm or other member, and all of them ex- 
cept officers, looked exceedingly wretched. The gov- 
ernment would not recognize them as an organiza- 
tion but finally, when their colonel left for Washing- 
ton, never to return, they were corralled and cared 
for; the disabled sent home and those fit for service 
allowed to join other organizations. Some of them 
enlisted in the regular army, but most of them were 
organized into a new volunteer regiment, of which it 
was reported in 1863, that its most distinguished ser- 
vice was catching free negroes inside of our lines and 
running them through the enemy's lines, where they 
were sold as slaves. I do not vouch for the truth of 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 37 

this report but many of the men who came with the 
"naval brigade" looked toug-h enoug-h for that or any 
other kind of bad work. 

The appearance of the "brig-ade" recalls a story 
of "Billy" Wilson's zouaves. The chaplain was ad- 
dressing- them a short time before they left New 
York for the seat of war but they did not seem to 
heed what he was saying", so Colonel Billy called out, 
"Bo3's, pay attention to v/hat the preacher is telling- 
you for within ten daj^s you may all be in hell!" 
"Three cheers for hell" shouted one of them, and 
three heart}^ cheers were g-iven. They thoug-ht hell 
was some place down south where they would meet 
the enemy. Not long- after this the Confederates 
gave them such a dose at Santa Rosa island, Florida, 
that they must have been convinced they had reached 
the place they so roundly cheered. 

Life at Fortress Monroe settled down to the 
commonplace after we had been there a few weeks 
but we were rapidly drifting- to the point of unmis- 
takable war. Early in June an affair occurred at 
Philippi, Virg-inia, in which several were killed and 
wounded. Then followed a skirmish at Seneca Mills, 
Maryland, on the 16th of that month, and the follow- 
ing- day an eng-ag-ement at Boonville, Missouri, be- 
tween the Union troops under General Lyon and the 
Confederates under General Price, which measured 
by the loss on both sides rose to the digfnity of a bat- 
tle. It was now our turn. Detachments of Union 
troops moved out from Hampton and Newport News 
on the nig-ht of the 19th or morning- of the 20th of 
June, with Big- Bethel, a few miles av/ay, as their ob- 
jective point. There they met the Confederates un- 
der General Mag-ruder in a fortified position and suf- 
fered defeat. Among- the killed were Major Winthrop 



2S SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 

of General Butler's staff, a member of a noted New 
Engfland family of that name, and Lieutenant John 
Greble of the regular artillery g-arrison of Fortress 
Monroe, who commanded a section of a battery in the 
fight, the only artillery on our side. This of&cer was 
held in high esteem by his associates and his funeral 
at the chapel in the fort and the procession which fol- 
lowed the remains was a splendid tribute to his 
worth. The casket containing the body was strapped 
to the carriage of the gun he was working when he 
fell and his blood and brains bespattered it. All the 
ofl&cers and soldiers of the garrison and many of the 
sailors from the fleet were in the procession, privates 
and noncommissioned officers in the lead, company of- 
ficers following their companies, regimental officers 
their regiments and General Butler and Commander 
Pendergras bring-ing up the rear, and in returning all 
faced about on their individual ground so that the gen- 
eral and commodore led the procession. Only a part 
of our regiment — four companies taken from Newport 
News — were engaged in the battle of Big Bethel and 
we who were left in the fort constituted the burial 
party for the only man killed in the regiment. 

General Magruder who commanded the Confed- 
erates was an old regular army officer, a captain of 
artillery, of whom the story was told that while on 
the march with his battery out on the plains before 
the war, he noticed one of his men lifting a canteen 
to his lips and the following occurred: "What have 
you in that canteen, sir?" "Whiskey, sir." "Pass 
it to me, sir." After taking a drink he passed the 
canteen back to the soldier and said: "What's your 
name, sir?" "Private O'Riley, sir." "Hereafter you 
are Corporal O'Riley." A little later he called to the 
soldier: "What's your name, sir?" "Corporal O'Riley, 



SERVICE OF THE MINUTE MEN. 39 

sir." "What have 3'ou in that canteen, sir?" "Whis- 
key, sir." "Pass it to me, sir." And after drinking 
again he passed it back with "What's your name, 
sir?" "Corporal O'Riley, sir." "Hereafter you are 
Sergeant O'Riley." And it was said if the whiskey 
had held out the captain would have exhausted his 
power of promotion. 

The 2uth of July soon came around, our three 
months' service was ended and we shipped aboard the 
steamer S. R. Spaulding for Boston. We arrived on 
an island in the harbor about the time the news of 
the disaster' to our arms at Bull Run shocked the peo- 
ple of the North and it seemed queer that we should 
be returning to civil life at a time when our services 
were most needed. The Confederates adopted a more 
effective way of creating their army. They enlisted 
their men for longer terms and kept their organiza- 
tions full so the new men soon became veterans. Per- 
haps they adopted that plan from necessity, as the 
supply of material was limited. But whatever senti- 
ment might suggest as to our being retained in ser- 
vice we were mustered in for but three months and 
our Uncle Sam, as usual, kept his word and mustered 
us out on time. 



CHAPTER III. 

RETURN TO ARMY, BIIRNSIDE EXPEDITION. 

Many of us could not stay out. We soon beg"an 
looking- up an opportunit}' to get back a^ain. I fi- 
nally broug-ht up at 112 Washing-ton street, Boston, 
where a company called the Havelock Guards, after 
the pious Kng-lish General Havelock of India fame, 
was being- org-anized. Its org-anization was alleg-ed 
to be under the auspices of the Rev. Phineas Stowe. 
A long- haired serious looking- individual of middle 
ag-e, was in charg-e, and he announced that no one 
could get into the company unless he was twenty one 
years of age. This was a poser, but I made up my 
mind to be one of the elect and I immediately became 
twenty one and was twenty one by the record for 
about three years thereafter. If my memory serves 
me correctly the serious looking- man g-ave his O. K. 
to my rapid increase in ag-e. We went into camp at 
Lynnfield, Mass., as the second company for the 
Twenty-second Massachusetts, to be commanded by 
Senator, afterwards Vice President Henry Wilson, 
and soon the ten companies that were to make up 
the regiment were assig^ned their places and we 
were worked at company and battalion drill up to our 
full capacity. One day a young lieutenant came into 
camp from a clerkship in a store in Boston. He was 
to have a distinguished career in the civil war, where 



BU"RNSID:E EXPEDITlOl^. 41 

fee rose to the rank of a brevet major general and 
commanded a division of Hancock's famous Second 
•corps at the '"'Bloody Ang-le" on Spottsylvania's bat- 
tle lield, where more lead and iron were hurled at 
each other by the contending- forces than ever before 
or since in the same amount of space and same length, 
of time by opposing armies. Not long ago he was 
retired from his place as commander-in-chief of the 
army. 

Another distinguished soldier who started in the 
Lynn field camp as a private in the Nineteenth Mas^ 
sachusetts is General Greely of Arctic exploration 
fame. Colonel Wilson came to see us frequently, but 
as he was merely the political commander, he left the 
matter of drill and discipline to his subordinates. 
One day, however, he undertook to command thereg* 
iment on review and marching in column b}- compa- 
nies was about to go through the suttler's tent 
for want of a proper command when he invented the 
order "Music left wheel" to get out of the dilemma. 
His commission as colonel ended when he reached 
Washington with the regiment and turned it over to 
a real commander. 

Before the regiment was ready to start for the 
South the Havelock Guards, not having the full num- 
ber of men required by army regulations, had to give 
up its place to another company and the members, 
disgusted with the delay, abandoned the organization 
and enrolled themselves in companies of the Twenty- 
third Massachusetts now nearly ready for the field. 
I joined the Plymouth company and knowing some- 
thing of military tactics was made a sergeant. We 
left the camp at Lynnfield in November, 1861, for 
Annapolis, Maryland, to become a part of the Burn- 
side expedition in the waters of North Carolina. On 



42 RETURN TO ARMY, 

our way we were feasted at the Park barracks in 
New York City with bean soup and wheat bread, and 
we were given a nice breakfast at the "Coopsr shop'' 
in Philadelphia about 3 o'clock in the morning-; then 
pushed on to Havre de Grace, Maryland, where we 
were to take steamers to Annapolis. The steamers 
did not arrive as early as expected and we bivouack- 
ed in the big- railway station where one of our earli- 
est enemies, taking advantag-e of the rain and mud, 
assaulted us with influenza so successfully that many 
had cause to remember it a long time after ; but the 
steamers came after a day's delay, and transferred us 
to Annapolis, where we occupied comfortable quar- 
ters in the naval school building-s until we were pre- 
pared to go into camp, a mile or so north of the town. 
Three brigades were organized as rapidly as pos- 
sible which were to make up the Burnside expedition 
and the time between our arrival and that of the sail- 
ing of the expedition was occupied by company, regi- 
ment and brigade drill, and discipline; useful in fu- 
ture service. Our brigade was the first and it was 
comprised of the Tenth Connecticut, the Twenty- 
third, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Twenty- 
seventh Massachusetts. It was commanded by Gen- 
eral John G. Poster, who was a captain of engineers 
at Fort Sumter when it fell and a very able and ef- 
fective officer, who had the confidence, love and re- 
spect of his subordinates and of the men of the bri- 
gade quite uniformly. ' The second and third brigades 
were commanded by General Reno, (killed in battle 
the following summer), and General Parke, who later 
commanded the Ninth army corps. The regiments 
of these brigades were from Pennsylvania, New York, 
New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island, perhaps one from New Hampshire, and what 



BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 43 

I have said of the drill and discipline of regiments of 
our brigade was equally true of those of the other bri- 
g-ades. In our brig-adewith the Twenty-fourth Mas- 
sachusetts was Gilmore's band of Boston, led by the 
far-famed Pat Gilmore of the Boston jubilee, and 
most, if not all, of the reg-iments had their brass 
bands in those days. 

As a reminder of the Havre de Grace bivouac I 
carried a severe cold with me until I was landed in 
the hospital ship of our brig-ade about a week before 
V7e broke camp to g-o aboard the fleet provided for 
the expedition, but that week's experience convinc- 
ed me that I was convalescent and able to return to 
my reg-iment, which the doctor in charg-e permitted 
me to do. Althoug-h I could with difficulty walk to 
the reg-imental camp, a mile away, with my g"un and 
other traps, I felt sure of more and better care at the 
hands of the men of my own company than among- 
strang-ers in a hospital ship, the air and care of v/hich 
would make a well man sick. Wading- throug-h snow, 
slush and mud I finally arrived in camp to hear that 
the doctor had decided I was a consumptive. The 
camp was to be broken up the next morning- and I 
had to repeat the exhaustive march I had just con- 
cluded, but youth is strong- in hope. I took no stock 
in the consumptive report and determined to bear up 
until we g-ot on ship board, so I should not be con- 
demned to that disg-usting- hospital ship ag-ain. 

All day long- we were on the march or standing- 
around the wharf in the slush of melted snow and di- 
luted mud, and at evening- we marched on board of 
an old river boat, built up as a double decked trans- 
port, to take us in midwinter to Cape Hatteras, the 
stormiest place on the Atlantic seacoast. This craft 
was named the Huzzar, and beside the soldiers stowed 



44 RETURN" TO ARMY, 

away in lier she carried two big- Parrot g-uns betweera 
decks, and a Wiard gun at her bow. The heat for 
our quarters was the animal heat furnished by the 
soldiers, and we were packed in like sardines, except 
the spaces between us were not filled with oil. If a 
soldier wanted a little extra heat he could crawl 
throug-h a door that opened near the top of the boiler 
to a place along- side of it that would hold three or 
four men at a time. There was nothing- very roman- 
tic or heroic about this kind of life and the g-rowlers. 
had the rig-ht of way. But we were in for it and al- 
most anj'thing- that would take our attention from 
ourselves was a welcome occurrence. 

After the troops and supplies were loaded at 
Annapolis the fleet made its way south to Hampton 
Roads and some of the vessels anchored there to let 
others catch up, but we were soon on the move ag-ain 
and the second day following- that on which we lost 
sig-ht of Fortress Monroe found us off Cape Hatteras 
in a frightful gale, and for a time it looked as though 
the fate which overtook the Monitor there, after she 
g-ave the Merrimac her death blow, was held in store 
for us. It seemed as though the angry sea was lash- 
ing itself with fury to swallow us. Vessels drawing 
nine feet of water only, could get into Hatteras inlet, 
and it was a close shave for many of them; the big 
store ship, City of New York, ran high and dry on 
the bar and was soon broken up into drift wood 
among the breakers. What that ship drawing fifteen 
feet of water was sent down there for no one seemed 
to know, but speculation on the government's misfor- 
tune which was the fashion then, probably had some- 
thing to do with it. It was in line with the supply 
of fresh water furnished the fleet in kerosene oil bar- 
rels. The soldiers could use that or go without water 



BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 45 

altog-ether. But the soldier had one remedy he could 
fall back upon. He could curse the army contractor 
to his heart's content. 

The vessels which constituted the fleet finally, 
after a few da3's' delay, g-ot into Hatteras inlet and 
cast their anchors in the shifting- sands of that treach- 
erous harbor, not, however, without the loss of sever- 
al in the same way as the City of New York. The 
force of the Burnside expedition consisted of thirty- 
one steam g-un boats, some of them carr3'ingf heavy 
gfuns; eleven thousand five hundred troops, conveyed 
in forty seven transports, some of them armed, and a 
fleet of small vessels carr3nng' sixty days' supplies. 

Having- followed the expedition to its anchor- 
age at the base of operations let us turn to a brief 
consideration of its purpose. Before the rising- suns 
of distinction and g"lory of Grant, Sherman, Sher- 
idan, Thomas, Farrag-ut and Porter had shown 
themselves above the horizon, somebody had conceiv- 
ed the policy of shutting- up the Southern Confeder- 
acy as indispensable to the success of the Union cause. 
To the distinguished heroes named fell the lot of 
cutting it to pieces in later times. At the outbreak 
of the war General Scott, who had won fame in the 
war of 1812 and in the Mexican war, was at the head 
of the United States army and continued there for 
many months. Simon Cameron, the Pennsylvania 
political leader, was secretary of war and Gideon 
Wells secretary of the navy during- the same time. 
It seems natural to conclude that President Lincoln, 
the two members of his cabinet and more particular- 
1}^ the first soldier in America in experience and wis- 
dom, determined upon the closing- up policy to meet 
the hostile feeling- abroad that swept our commerce 
from the seas and penetrated Southern ports with 



46 RETUKl'T TO ARMY, 

British built war vessels, soug-ht to form a combina- 
tion for armed intervention between the North and 
South and established the empire of Maximillian in 
Mexico. Whoever orig-inated the policy, its purpose 
was to cut off all commerce between that part of the 
Union in a state of war, and the outside world, ex- 
cept such as was permitted subject to supervision of 
the war power, and as a move along" that line, fol- 
lowing- the capture of Hatteras inlet the preceding- 
August, by an expedition under General Butler, the 
Burnside expedition was set afloat. That it was well 
directed there is no doubt. General Wise, who was 
g-overnor of Virginia when John Brown was hung-, 
tells us: "Roanoke Island," the objective point of the 
expedition, "lying- behind Bodie's island, the sand bar 
that shuts off Upper North Carolina from the Atlan- 
tic ocean, offers some of the most interesting- souve- 
nirs of early American history. It is the key to all 
the rear defenses of Norfolk. It unlocks two sounds, 
eight rivers, four canals, two railroads. It guards 
more than four-fifths of the supplies of Norfolk. The 
siezure of it endangers the subsistence of the Confed- 
erate army there, threatens the navy yard, interrupts 
the communication between Norfolk and Richmond, 
and intervenes between both and the South." 

During our stay at Hatteras inlet the sky was 
usually overhung with leaden clouds, sometimes when 
the wind was particularly fierce they assumed a yel- 
lowish brightness as thoug-h the spirit of evil was 
grinning at our wretched condition. It was a com- 
mon occurrence for several of our vessels to fly their 
colors union down at early morn as evidence that the 
previous night's storm had left them in distress. But 
all things human must have an end and after knock- 
ing about in the inlet for two weeks or more the 



BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 47 

work of g"etting- our vessels over the "swash," an in- 
side bar, beg-an. Many of them, ours among- the 
number, had to have the help of a lig-ht draft steam- 
er on each side and a chain under the bottom as a lift 
to get over this bar, a tribute to the rog-ues who sold 
these unfit vessels to the g"overnment for such a ser- 
vice. But most, if not all, of them g-ot over and then 
the stonu}- period seemed to come to an end. 

On February 6, 1862, after our delay at Hatteras 
had g-iven our friends, the enemy, their army under 
command of General Wise, and navy under Commo- 
dore Lynch, ample time to prepare a v/arm and ap- 
preciative reception for us, we weig-hed anchor and 
steamed tov/ard Roanoke island. The day was per- 
fect and heaven seemed to smile on our undertaking-. 
We came to anchor below the island about the middle 
of the afternoon and preparations beg;an for the work 
before us. The naval vessels took an advanced posi- 
tion while the transports moved up so the troops could 
debark at the lower part of the island. Beyond our 
naval vessels was a line of piles, sunken vessels and 
other obstructions to bar their progress up the nar- 
row sound — Croatan — and beyond the obstruction was 
the Confederate navy, while on the island flank were 
heavy batteries commanding- the sound for a long- dis- 
tance. The soldiers g-enerall_y went ashore below the 
inland batteries on the afternoon of the 6th; enough 
of them were left on the armed transports to work 
the g"uns, and that service fell to our company on the 
Huzzar. That evening, General Foster, our brigade 
commander, dignified and smiling, came along side of 
us and gave the captain of our vessel some good ad- 
vice about keeping cool when the splinters began to 
fly, which was not out of place as the captain was an 
excitable fellow. 



48 RETURN TO ARMY, 

The morning- of the 7th opened bright and 
fair and under Commodore Goldsboro we sailors 
went in for victory or death. The way some of 
the little gunboats commanded by young dare-dev- 
ils, went at the Confederate batteries was interesting-. 
Although built of wood alone they v/ould run up 
witliin a few hundred yards of a battery mounted 
with the heaviest guns and pour their shot and shell 
into it and perhaps get one or more eight or ten inch 
shot through their boats from side to side or end to 
end with the unavoidable loss of life and maiming 
that go with such experience. I remember that a 
late congressman from the state of Maine was one 
among these dare-devils; like most of his manly com- 
panions he has joined the great majorit}'. I now re- 
call his name. It was Boutelle, He will be remem- 
bered as receiving recognition by way of an appoint- 
ment as captain in the navy shortly before his death. 
Among the liberal gifts of recent administrations by 
way of appointment in the military and naval service 
of the country, some of which recall Captain Magru- 
der and Corporal O'Riley, none were more deserving 
as a recognition of the noble spirit of a true and wor- 
thy sailor or soldier than the appointment of Cap- 
tain Boutelle. But we were all in line of battle doing 
the duty assigned to us. As I stated before we had 
two big Parrot guns between decks and a three inch 
Wiard in our bow, on the upper deck; those we work- 
ed the best we knew how as we moved into the posi- 
tion assigned us in the line of battle by the com- 
mander of the fleet, and that we were not altogether 
unworthy of recognition was proven by the attention 
the enemy paid us. As night came on the naval en- 
gagement closed; on our craft no losses occurred. 

The next day the troops on shore advanced until 



BURNSIDE EXPEDITION. 49 

they encountered a three g-un battery which they soon 
captured but y^'ith some loss. Here fell Colonel Rus- 
sell of the Tenth Connecticut, one of the very best 
regiments in the service, larg-elj indebted to him for 
its early training". On the other side O. Jenning>i 
Wise, a son of General Wise who commanded the 
Confederates, fell. I mention these as more marked; 
there were many others equally as brave and faithful 
and whose deaths w^ere as deeply mourned. The 
principal fig-hting was at this battery. 

As we outnumbered the Confederates two or three 
to one and took their other batteries in the rear with 
our land forces, after disabling them with our naval 
attack, there was nothing left for them to do but sur- 
render, which was gracefully done. General Wise 
escaped to the main land before the surrender. We 
suspected the general thought he might be called to 
account for hanging John Brown; but suppose the 
free soil governor John A. Andrew of Massachusetts 
had been in the place of Governor Wise how other- 
wise could he have acted in John Brown's case? One 
of the blessings we enjoyed after the capture of 
Roanoke Island was the opportunity to take launches 
loaded with clean empty barrels into the juniper wa- 
ters of the low lands and fill them for use on ship- 
board; the change from the kerosene tinctured water 
furnished us by the "patriotic" New York contractors 
was good enough to make us feel that we had landed 
among our friends instead of our enemies. 

We remained in the waters of Roanoke Island 
until about the 11th of March, occasionally scouting 
through the bays and inlets for contraband vessels 
and one day after we had captured a small schooner 
and were bringing her in with the National colors, 
found in her cabin, flying at her masthead, one of our 



50 RETUKN TO ARMY, 

gun boats came down on us ^vith the men beat to 
quarters as though it was ready to sweep us off the 
face of the earth, but we saved ourselves by a prompt 
and satisfactory explanation. 

The individual experience may be of little value 
from the ego standpoint, but as an example of how 
the boys operated the stDrv of one may be tolerated. I 
have said I carried with me from Havre de Grace a 
cold that landed me in the hospital ship for a week 
and clung- to me on return to my company, and I de- 
sire to add that I found a cure, perhaps, not laid 
dov/n in the rules governing the practice of the med- 
ical profession. Our rations had been made up of 
salt meat, beans, hard bread, rice and molasses and 
we hungered for vegetables; perhaps that is not a 
good expression, but it is true, and one day we, a 
squad of us, went ashore where w^e learned that about 
a mile away across a level stretch of land over which 
the water stood about ankle deep we could get our fill 
of sweet potatoes, so away we went regardless of wet 
feet, for we wore common government shoes; but 
when we reached our destination the potatoes were 
gone. We returned just before night fall and waited 
in the cold, with wet feet and legs, for a boat to come 
for us from the Huzzar, our "home on the ocean 
wave," and it came in due time and took us back. 
After I g-ot aboard I crawled in beside the boiler of 
the vessel and got thoroughly v/arm and dry before I 
came out and then went to bed in my army blanket. 
When I woke up the next morning the cold and cough 
were gone never to return. I hope this information 
will not interfere with any medical gentleman's busi- 
ness. I suspect my experience was a freak. 

About the 11th of March, our fleet sailed back 
from Roanoke Island to Hatteras Inlet, where Com- 



BUKNSTDE EXPEDITION. 51 

raodorc Goldsboro learned of the disaster to his flag"- 
ship, the Minnesota, and the Congress and Cumber- 
land, other ships of his fleet, in the waters of Hamp- 
ton Roads, as a result of the attack of the new Mer- 
rimac. He left us at Hatteras under command of 
Captain Rowan who on the following" morning- led 
the way in an advance on New Berne at the junction 
of the Neuse and Trent rivers. On the evening" of 
the 12th we arrived in the Neuse river at the mouth 
of Slocum's creek about twenty miles below New 
Berne, where we anchored for the night preparatory 
to debarkation on the following" morning. 

I stated in connection with an explanation of the 
purpose of the Burnside expedition that to Grant, 
Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, Farragut and Porter 
fell the lot of cutting the Southern Confederacy to 
pieces, and it was also true that no more effective or 
heroic service was ever done on land or sea for our 
country, or any other, than that of Admiral Farragfut 
in his engagement with Forts Jackson and St. Philip 
and the Confederate navy below New Orleans on the 
Mississippi, leading his gallant fleet in the old wood- 
en flagship, the Hartford, with the spirit that char- 
acterized John Paul Jones in the fight of the Bon 
Homme Richard with the British ship Serapis, when 
both vessels were on fire, his own sinking, his decks 
slippery with blood and well nigh covered with the 
wounded and dead, and hailed by the British com- 
mander to surrender he replied: "We have only just 
begun to fight!" and followed this up with a superb 
dash with cutlass in hand at the head of his men over 
the enemy's side, and compelled him to haul down 
his flag. 

Farragut and his fleet, in connection with Gener- 
al Butler and his arm}', closed the Mississippi in pur- 



52 RETURN TO AR^IY, 

suance of the policy that sent the Burnside expedition 
into North Carolina waters, and thus g^ave a master 
stroke in that plan which was followed later at 
Vicksburg by Grant in one of the most brilliant cam- 
paig-ns of the war. 

At Mobile Bay Farragut, lashed in the rigging 
of the Hartford above the smoke of battle, leading 
his fleet and to the signal: "Look out for torpedoes!" 

giving the command "D n the torpedoes! Go 

ahead!" we witness another victory along the line of 
the port closing policy. And what splendid men 
these sailors were! Where in the history of human 
daring or chivalry can be found an act of more prince- 
ly courtesy, or sublime courage than that of Captain 
Craven of the iron clad in Farragut's fleet at Mobile, 
who being in the pilot house when a torpedo explod- 
ed under his ship and she was sinking, started for the 
door to save himself but meeting the pilot and there 
being but room for one to pass out, graciously waived 
his superior right with "After you pilot," and went 
down to death with his ship, while the life of the 
pilot was saved. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 



But I am far away from the scene of action where 
I left our fleet, and I will return to it, about twenty 
miles below New Berne, North Carolina, on the 
Neuse river, where we anchored on the nig-ht of 
March 12th, 1862. 

The next morning- all was bustle and activity; 
the war ships, pure and simple — no armed transports 
— were preparing to move up the river and eng-ag-e 
the enemy's fleet and batteries, while we, the troops, 
were hurrying- down the sides of our vessels into 
launches and pulling- away for the shore, where 
we jumped overboard in two or three feet of water, 
waded to dry land and formed our company and regi- 
mental organizations preparatory to the advance of 
the army. We had left a small garrison at Roanoke 
Island and a regiment or two had been added to our 
force so we must have had about twelve or fifteen 
regiments, each six or seven hundred strong, to move 
on New Berne. We had no batteries; only two ma- 
rine guns to be hauled by sailors and soldiers over 
roads that even after forty-four years can give me 
about as good a rhetorical start in the way of profan- 
ity as any inspiration at my command. The gun 
boats were to precede us shelling the woods along the 
river through which we were to march to reach the 



54 ADVANCE' ON NE^V EHKNE 

enemy's position a few miles below New Berne, where 
their left rested on the river with a formidable work 
containing- nine heavy guns which commanded the 
river opposite the obstructions in it to bar navig-a- 
tion and could enfilade our infantry line of battle 
with a most demoralizing- and destructive lire. Away 
to the rig-ht of this for a long- distance stretched in- 
trenchments as a cover for infantry; then came sever- 
al batteries of light artillery admirably posted for 
business from the Confederate standpoint; thence the 
intrenchment continued away to the right across the 
railroad between New Berne and Morehead City until 
it reached a low swampy thicket such as military en- 
gineers select to connect the flank of fig-hting forces- 
with in the absence of a sufficiency of effective caval- 
ry. We know the position of the enemy now; we 
have known it ever since the morning of the 14th of 
March, 1862; we should have known it before but we 
did not. 

About 10 o'clock on the forenoon of the 13tli we 
began the advance and had not been on the march 
long- before it began to rain; North Carolina soil in 
the low level lands of the state that border its sounds 
and the rivers which empty into them, in connection 
with a g-ood vig-orous rain, is a combination hard to 
beat in opposition to the march of large bodies of 
troops; at its best it seemed as though when one got 
his foot well stuck in the mud and attempted to get 
it out it was a question whether the mud or the ankle 
would give way. Under this condition we dragged 
ourselves wearily along until about noon when we 
halted for a little while and a Rhode Island regiment 
marched by with a woman dressed in bloomers carry- 
ing one of the flags of the regiment. Her name was 
Katie Brownell. She was the wife of the first ser- 



ADVANCE ON NEW BEKNE 55 

•j^eant of the color company of the regiment, and 
planted the first of our colors on the captured works 
<5f the enemy in the battle of the day follovring', in 
which her husband was wounded, and she is now the 
only woman, as a soldier, on the pension rolls. 

After the Rhode Island reg"iment passed us we 
ag"ain "fell in" and continued the march until nig-ht 
overtook us without seeing" a sign of our enemy, ex- 
cept an abandoned earthwork. The gunboats had 
cleared the woods out as with a fine tooth comb, so 
far as humanity was in question. We camped tor the 
night, or to be correct, we bivouacked for the night, 
in a flat low lying country sparsely covered with pine 
timber, where the rain, as it fell in torrents, soaked 
the earth until it was much like a wet sponge; all it 
needed was the pressure of our bodies to bring the 
water to the surface. After eating our *'hard tack'"* 
and drinking our coffee— and I remember now that I 
had a bargain with a comrade that he should carry the 
hard tack and I the butter for we two, and that my 
haversack was filled with the can of butter at a dollar 
a pound, while my partner had overlooked the hard 
tack so we both had to depend upon the generosity of 
the other boys — but this partner was a good politi- 
cian. He was afterward secretary of the common- 
wealth of Massachusetts for seventeen years. I re- 
peat, after eating our hard tack and drinking our 
coffee we each gathered a few pine boughs and made 
beds or shelter for ourselves near the doubtful and 
flickering fires we had built, and dozed away the 
night as best we could. 

As soon as daylight came we were up and stir- 
ring, and steaming too from the soaking of the night 
before, and the animal heat we were giving out. We 
gTjlped down our apology for a breakfast, without 



56 ADVANCE OX NEW BERNE 

washing" face or hands — that was not in order; we 
were already washed beyond the requirements of army 
reg'ulations, and fell into company line to look our- 
selves over and see what condition our gfuns and am- 
munition were in for lig-hting- purposes. We found 
them bad enoug-h for condemnation in any situation 
except in the immediate presence of a battle. On the 
day preceding, the marine guns were in the column 
on the march near us and I frequently saw the sailors, 
g-unners and soldiers detailed to assist them, tug"g"ing 
away at the ropes with which they v/ere dragging 
these infant g'uns througfh the mud to light one of 
the best constructed and armed earthworks prepared 
up to that time for any battle field of the South. 
Sometimes the soldiers and sailors would g-et a lift b}- 
capturing- an ox, steer or cow and hitching- it up 
among- themselves to share the pull. Whatever their 
luck they never lost their place in the line of march 
and came into bivouac promptly on time. One of 
these guns v^as commanded by a young naval officer 
named McCook, of one of the fighting McCook fami- 
lies of Ohio, both of which had very distinguished 
sons in the civil war. The other was commanded by 
a man whose name I did not know but whose charac- 
teristics convinced me he must have been the famous 
Lieutenant Gushing of the navy, who always distin- 
guished himself when the opportunity occurred, and 
finally fairly outdid himself in the destruction of the 
ram Albemarle, at Pijisouth, North Carolina. He 
was over six feet tall, straight as an arrow, a blonde, 
about twenty years old and a bundle of nerves that it 
seemed to take the strain of furious battle to calm. 

Before we left the bivouac we heard firing ahead 
by volley and supposed it was the same as our fire, 
merely emptying our guns to reload, so far as we 



ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 57 

could. But pretty soon a staff officer dashed along 
the road his horse at full gallop and gave out the 
word, "stop firing;" we stopped, filed out into regi- 
mental organization and began the advance again. 
We were tired and straggled along with our guns 
over either shoulder or slung on our backs as suited 
us; covering at least twice as much ground as we 
should have covered to be ready for the shock of bat- 
tle which we were soon to experience. After we had 
marched about a mile I noticed General Burnside and 
staff standing- in a group on the left of the road, and 
I think the g-eneral said as we passed, "close up, 
men." I knovv^ one of his staff officers did, and our 
colonel repeated it but we didn't "close up." If 
General Burnside or our colonel knew what we were 
going into the head of the regiment should have 
been halted, the ranks closed, and it would have done 
no harm to have sent the word along the column 
among the boys that business would soon begin, and 
we would have gone in on the double quick to a man. 
I used to have a lurking suspicion in my early service 
that we would do better work if the men were some- 
times taken into the confidence of the officers a little 
more as to the locality, time and nature of expected 
engagements, not long before the battle opened. I 
knew it later. 

About this time an accident occurred to one of 
the men in our company that looked funny to the 
rest of us, but not to him. He fell sprawling at full 
length in the mud as he was marching along, and 
there I will leave him for the present. In the past 
when the question was of interest it was sometimes 
disputed as to who the youngest man in the service 
was, but I never heard the question raised as to who 
the oldest man in the service was; that is, enlisted 



58 ADVANCE ON NEW BEKNE 

man. I think it was this man lying- there on the 
verg-e of a terrific battle, which he later compared 
with his fig-hting- under Napoleon, his full length in 
North Carolina mud. His name was John Fide. Ke 
was a Frenchman over seventy years of agfe, who 
blackened his hair and whiskers to g"et into our com- 
pany at Plymouth, Massachusetts, where he lived, 
under the ag-e limit of fortj^-five years. He served as 
a soldier in the armies of France when all Europe 
trembled at their tread; he foug-ht under Napoleon 
Bonaparte, and was wounded on the historic field of 
Waterloo. After a little strug-g-le the old man drew 
himself tog-ether and g-ot up, covered vfith mud, 
but still about as clean as the rest of us, and took 
his place on the march among- his young-er comrades 
to do his full duty as well as the best of them in 
the hottest part of the impending- battle. 

When the old French veteran of Waterloo had 
withdrawn himself from his full leng-th impress in 
the mud and joined the ranks of his comrades, 
who were trudg-ing- along- "in rout step," as sol- 
diers say, which means "g-o as you please," only 
keep in the company and reg-imental organization, 
and we had not gone more than two hundred yards 
from the Frenchman's accident, along- an old road 
over a slig-htly elevated "scrub-oak" tract of ground, 
when one of the enemy's cannon opened on us and 
was instantly followed by all the g-uns along- their 
line, hurling- solid shot, shell and canister into us as 
thick as hail, as it seemed, with perfect rang-e, for 
they were only about six hundred yards away in our 
front, and a belt of pine timber concealed them from 
us. 

To say we were surprised is putting- it too mild 
for such an occasion. I speak now of the men of my 



ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 59 

own company within view — a few seconds after the 
batteries opened the smoke descended and one could 
not see more than tiftj yards away or half a compa- 
ny leng-th. We stopped as thoug-h electrified and 
dropped down to g-et under the terrible fire, for it 
seemed to be about breast hig'h; we knew not what 
was going- on to the front or rear, the rig-ht or left — 
the halt started ahead of our company; the lieutenant 
colonel was killed at the first fire and at the same 
time the captain of the company immediately in front 
of us had a leg- shot off, and perhaps this accounts 
for the halt; no command came from those in 
authority, neither colonel nor captain, but after a few 
seconds one of our lieutenants, a big- voiced brave 
man, roared out so we could hear him above the din of 
battle, "forward!" and my chum and I, both ser- 
g-eants, repeated the order and away we all went on 
the double quick to the front in the strip of pine tim- 
ber, between Avhich and their line of intrenchments 
the enemy had fallen trees "criss cross," called 
"slashing-," to impede our advance while they were 
thinning- out our ranks with their well directed and 
destructive fire. Each man seemed to be for himself 
and appropriated the most convenient pine tree as a 
cover from the enemy's front fire, at least that was 
true of the part of my company which followed the 
order "forward," the rest of the regiment ahead of us 
was a little ways off on our right and front ap- 
parently in line but looked small for six companies, 
the rear half of our company, which doubtless did not 
hear the word "forward," and the other three compa- 
nies came up later and v.'e all got together in regi- 
mental line, as we should have been in the first place 
and would have been if the regiment had been in close 
marching order so that commands, if given, could 



60 ADVATSrCE ON N'EW BERNE. 

have been heard and passed from front to rear of the 
reg-iment. 

But let us return to the pine tree cover. I had 
been something- of an enthusiast in learning- military 
tactics and supposed thej were for use in battle as 
well as to show off with on drill and dress parade, 
and among- other things I had learned to fire lying- 
down on the skirmish line and here was the place to 
put that drill into practice, for the enemy's fire was 
very low, they had prepared to receive us; they had 
perfect range with their lig-ht batteries in our front; 
batteries from the best artillery of the Confederacy; 
so from behind my tree I stretched myself out at full 
length on the ground, resting on my elbows as I fir- 
ed, then rolled over on my back, put the butt of my 
musket betv.'een my feet to bring the muzzle in con- 
venient position and reloaded, thus continuing until 
that part of the regiment in line having fired its for- 
ty rounds from the edge of the timber at the place 
where the enemy was supposed to be in the dense 
smoke, fell back for another regiment to take its 
place, which made a worse show than we had done, 
for we stood by our guns until our ammunition was 
gone and charged bayonets on our successors to keep 
them up to their work. 

While I was pursuing the art of war according to 
my individual view of punishing the enemy and self 
preservation, some other interesting individual expe- 
riences were occurring around me; my chum, a boy 
named Terry, who with me joined the company as a 
sergeant when the Havelock Guards broke up, was a 
short distance away on my right; he was swarthy 
and muscular and had a smile of satisfaction on his 
face as he occasionally looked over at me from his 
tree, behind which he was as industriously blazing 



ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 61 

away as the most active, but finally I saw him move 
as thoug-h he would fall and as he turned his face to 
me it was the picture of ag-ony which his voice re- 
inforced as he cried out: "Dollard come and carry me 
off;" he was hit in the ankle with a canister shot, an 
iron ball at least an inch in diameter. Before I could 
reach him, or he could fall, a couple of our boys were 
by his side and bore him from the field. He was shot 
from the rig-ht of our line; the river battery of the 
enemy poured an enfilading- fire into us. He was 
standing- behind his tree while I was lying- down be- 
hind mine; if the ball that struck him had the same 
rang-e on me it would not have been necessary for 
anybody to carry me off the field, at least, beyond the 
burial trench; such is military strategy — sometimes. 
I was hit in the thig-h with a canister shot but for- 
tunately its force was broken by hitting something 
else, before it reached me. Terry lost his leg but 
saved a good stump, after two or three amputations, 
and later was made an ofiicer in a regiment operating 
at Morris Island, in the harbor of Charleston, South 
Carolina, where he was ag-ain shot in the same leg, 
but fortunately in the wooden part of it. 

Immediately to my left in the fight I noticed an- 
other boy who was firing from behind a tree and on 
the right of it. I think he was kneeling or stooping, 
when a cannon shot from the front tore by the tree 
grazing it to the left of his face a few inches and 
threw him on his back, his hands and feet in the air; 
his face the picture of fright when he cried out: "Cap- 
tain, Doctor, Jersey, carry me off!" He was not hurt 
much; the ball's force threw him backward without 
hitting him, a few splinters struck him in the face 
and started the blood; he saw the captain near by 
and a boy we called Jersey Blue; he thought of the 



G2 ADVANCE ON NEW BKKNE 

doctor, and in his terror-stricken condition called for 
their help. Poor fellow, a deadlier enemy was lying- 
in Y^ait for him; he died of typhoid fever a few weeks, 
later. 

To add to the pandemonium of legitimate battle 
our g"un boats in the river behind us a half mile or 
more away, but cut off from view by the timber, their 
commanders thinking- to help us, opened fire in our 
rear with their big- guns, the shots from which came 
tearing- throtig-h our ranks with a roar such as an 
ordinarj^ railway passeng^er train mig-ht have made 
if running a hundred miles an hour, and their shots 
were quite as well aimed to reach us and as destruct- 
ive as those of the enemy, but soon ceased, however. 
While this firing- was g-oing on, to my left almost 
within reach, one of the smaller of their shots car- 
ried away the arm of one of our boys, and within ten 
feet of me smashed the intestines of another to jell}^ 
almost severing his body in two. 

As I have already stated that part of our regi- 
ment in line on the edg-e of the timber fell back to 
give place to another regiment, after it had fired its 
forty rounds, and we all got together in line. The 
regiment that was to take our place marched bravely 
to its position, but as soon as it began firing the en- 
emy's batteries poured a demoralizing artillery fire 
into it which drove it back upon us, who were under 
the same fire and without ammunition, but we had 
been baptized, and while we were not spoiling for a 
fight then we were in temper to hold that reg-iment 
to its duty, so we fixed bayonets and brought our 
pieces to the charge, the butts of our guns resting on 
the ground, for we were kneeling to keep below the 
fire we could not resent, and presented a line of steel 
to our retiring fellow soldiers. It is a fact, however, 



ADVANCE ON NKW BERNE 



t)3 



that this regiment in the following- summer, at An- 
tietam, covered itself with g-lory by its g-allant service 
at Stone Bridge, and in 1864 at the sieg-e of Peters- 
burg- its brave young commander met a heroic death, 
and the most historic battery along- our line was nam- 
ed in honor of his memory. I say the most hi-storic; 
it was this work that the enemy charg-ed and captur- 
ed in the spring- of 1865, when our boys tboug-ht its 
capture impossible, but they soon regained it and the 
ball thus set rolling continued until a few days later, 
away off on our left, when Grant and Lee met at Ap- 
pomattox and the g-reat civil war was broug-ht to an 
end. Beside this the quartermaster serg-eant of that 
reg-iment, an enlisted man, followed up his volunteer 
service by joining- the regulars and is now a major 
g-eneral in the regular army, and late commander of 
our troops in the Philippines. The experience of this 
regiment on its first battle field recalls the fact that 
Frederick the Great was charged with showing the 
white feather in his first battle, whereas he later be- 
came the master military spirit of Kurope and fought 
successfully the great nations of France, Austria and 
Russia at the same time. 

While we were operating as I have stated, im- 
mediately to our left were the two marine guns which 
I have spoken of and they were not silent in the gen- 
eral roar of artillery which continued from the be- 
o-inning to the end of that four hours' battle; they 
were fought by their officers and men until they could 
fight no longer; "all killed or wounded," would have 
been a correct report for the surviving officer of one 
of the guns to make. Such was the fate of the men 
who fought under the direction of the tall blonde of- 
ficer I have supposed to be Gushing, and when his 
last man fell he coolly mounted his gun carriage and 



64 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE 

watched the movements of the enem}^ with his iield 
g"lass. In the meantime the brig-ade of General Parke 
worked its way around the right flank of the enemy 
and captured his intrenchments there, where Katie 
Brownell planted the flag- of the Rhode Island reg-i- 
ment, the flrst of our colors to wave over the works 
of the enera}', while her husband lay wounded in the 
field hospital as a reward for the part he had taken 
in the battle. 

With the success of General Parke's move the en- 
emy beg^an to waver, observing which the young na- 
val officer referred to started for the intrenchments on 
foot and alone, got in, captured and mounted a horse as 
the illustrated papers of the times showed, dashed 
away and captured Lieutenant Colonel Avery of a 
North Carolina regiment, with its colors, in the face of 
the regiment which the latter was trying to rally. We 
pushed across the "slashing-" and into the works as 
soon as possible after Parke's brigade had turned the 
flank, and found all the light batteries, with which 
we had been given such an interesting entertainment, 
abandoned there, but not a horse left. They had all 
been killed in battle or nearly all. The gun boats 
broke through the obstructions in the river at the 
same time we carried the works and the fate of New 
Berne was sealed; it was to fall into the hands of the 
dreaded "Yankees." 

At the beginning of the battle the old French- 
man got separated from our company and fell in with 
a batallion of another regiment which made a des- 
perate attempt to break into the enemy's intrench- 
ments near our front, and of this experience the old 
man said it was worse than anything he saw at Wa- 
terloo. I myself had a variety of experiences in bat- 
tle in the low landJ; alonsf the rivers and amonof the 



ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 



hS 



pineries of North Carolina and in the hills and val- 
leys of Virg-inia, and have fallen wounded nig-h unto 
death on a field where sixty per cent of the men, or 
nearly double that of the loss of the lig-ht brig-ade at 
Balaklava, were killed and wounded, but I never was 
eng-ag-ed in anything- quite so peppery as the battle 
of New Berne, when the Confederate batteries were 
in full play upon Ui<; and our own g-un boats in the 
rear plowing- furrows throug-h our ranks under the 
impression of their commander that they were doing 
us a welcome service. 

The commander of the army in the Philippines 
is not the only soldier of the New Berne battle field 
who has risen from the ranks of the enlisted men to 
merited prominence and distinction. One who was a 
corporal in my reg-iment at that battle and who later 
joined me in a new reg-iment in which he was a cap* 
tain when his service came to an end, but shortly af- 
terward went into the reg-ulars, has been, after forty 
two years' service, appointed Paymaster General of 
the United States army. 

Shortly after we captured the enemy's works on 
the New Berne battle field we beg-an our march on 
that city and arriving- opposite to it on the Trent riv- 
er we found the railroad bridg-e across that stream 
burned and had to take to our shipping- ag-ain to 
reach it, and arrived in the beautiful elm shaded town 
about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. We marched at once 
to the fair ground outside the city, where our friends, 
the enemy, had very kindly left their camp and 
g-arrison equippag-e, cooking- conveniences, bedding-, 
personal bag-g-ag-e, etc., for us, which an army of ne- 
gro women and children, not appreciating- their cour- 
tesy, was rapidly taking- possession of, particularly 
the lig-hter articles. As we approached the camp we 



66 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE 

met a column of negroes coming" out of it loaded down 
with quilts, sheets, counterpanes, tobacco and other 
thing's, and as one of them, a tall bare footed mu- 
latto woman whose dress was cut off about half way 
between her knees and feet, passed near the rear of 
our regiment with a fine quilt thrown over her shoul- 
der a soldier slipped out of the ranks under that part 
of it hanging- down her back. As they were march- 
ing in opposite directions and each endeavoring- to 
continue the march the incident attracted the atten- 
tion of the reg-iment and was the cause of much mer- 
riment, notwithstanding- the sad experience of a few 
hours before, but a look from the eag-le eye of our 
dig-nified and handsome colonel g-ave the woman the 
victory. 

The camp was a welcome find for we left our 
woolen blankets on the vessels when we went ashore 
at Slocum's creek and had only our overcoats and rub- 
ber blankets to use as bedding- and not much use of 
those for that purpose during the drenching rain of 
the previous night. It is forbidden by army regula- 
tions for soldiers to strag-g-le away from their com- 
mand for plunder in the face of the enemy and the 
penalty is death; but a hung-ry soldier will take his 
chances and the way the ducks and g-eese were broug-ht 
into camp the night following- our arrival there was 
evidence that a plentiful supply of material had been 
provided for a season of serious courts martial. How- 
ever, such conduct could hardly be said to be preju- 
dicial to g-ood order and military discipline. It was a 
case of that necessity which knows no law. 

The Sunday following- our arrival in New Berne 
was a sad one; funeral services were held by all the 
regiments, each separately, in memory of their dead 
who had fallen in battle and been laid away in name- 



ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 67 

less graves. Soldiers are not savag-es, no matter how 
much their occupation may be condemned bj human- 
itarians; the sorrow and g-loom that spread throug^h- 
out companies and reg-iments at the loss of comrades 
in battle was as g-enuine, deep and lasting- as that 
which characterizes the severance by death of the 
dearest ties of friendship in any other field of life. 
Bayard Taylor wrote in his song of the camp, most 
truly: 

"The bravest are the tenderest, 
The loving- are the daring-." 

And even for the sufferings of the enemy the 
true soldier's heart is filled with sympathy, notv/ith- 
standing- 

"The stern joy the soldiers feel 
In foemen worthy of their steel." 

New Berne was situated between the Neuse and 
Trent rivers at their junction. These streams were 
of fresh water and considerable in size; they drained 
a flat low lying country for many miles, and were 
sluggish and probably had been since their origin, 
and they, with the water we secured for domestic 
purposes, not far away, had prepared a reception of 
an even less friendly character for us than we met on 
the New Berne battle field. We were but comfort- 
ably settled in our camp when typhoid fever broke 
out and reduced our ranks by hundreds. I think my 
own regiment melted away from about six hundred 
to less than two hundred in a few weeks; the hospi- 
tals were filled to overflowing-; many of their inmates 
died and many more were so disabled as to be unfit 
for future service. 

After lying in camp a week or ten days with a 
consuming- fever, often delirious, I remember that or- 
ders came for the regiment to break camp and go out 



68 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE- 

to the front on picket duty nine or ten milCvS awaj^ 
and we who could not g-o were taken to the hospitals. 
I never felt strong-er in my life than I did as I ran up 
the steps to the second story of the hospital building 
and I determined to get out of there the next morn- 
ing and rejoin my regdment; but when the next morn- 
ing came and I had gone out for an airing I could 
hardly crawl back into the hospital where I was at 
once put to bed, and in a day or two a cup of tea felt 
as heavy in my hand as a good sized cannon ball 
would when in ordinary health. However, I was for- 
tuna.te for I became convalescent in a few days and 
shortl}' after joined my regiment in time to be on 
hand when an attack of the enemy killed one of the 
members of my company and at the same time they 
carried away as a prisoner of war the only avowed 
abolitionist in it, notwithstanding it was from Ply- 
mouth Rock, which was the starting point of a civil- 
ization of the opposite school to that of Jamestown 
Island. A few days later we returned to New Berne 
for provost duty in that delightful little city. 

But all is not hardship, distress and danger, even 
in war, at least to the younger element of the army, 
and that means the great majority of the rank and 
file of our side in the civil war. We had the best of 
martial music and plenty of it. When not on the 
march in the earlier years of the war we had plenty 
of plain food, good comfortable clothing, blankets 
and quarters, enough of duty to give us a reasonable 
amount of exercise only, and as much freedom as was 
consistent with our welfare and necessary discipline, 
and you could depend upon the boys to make things 
interesting when off duty. What they could not think 
of as legitimate sources of amusement when time 
hung heavy on their hands it was needless for others 
to seek. 



ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE. 69 

Catching- some "big- headed" fellow and throwing- 
him up in a blanket to bring- him to his senses was 
sometimes resorted to. I remember a striking- in- 
stance before that organization of supposed pious 
young- men, the Havelock Guards, was broken up. 
We had a joung- man in the company named Napole- 
on Wood. There was not much Napoleon about him 
but a g-ood deal of wood, and he carried his head hig-h 
in honor of his first name, so hig-h that it was 
deemed necessary to discipline him in the blanket. 
One nig-ht about dark he was seized by two or three 
liusk}^ fellows who threw him into the blanket which 
half a dozen others were holding- to receive him and 
no sooner was he in than up he went eig-ht or ten 
feet and was kept g-oing- up and coming- down until 
his efforts to g-et away landed him head first ag-ainst 
the cook house and there he lay as thoug-h dead. The 
matter now became serious. The boys thoug-ht he 
was sure enoug-h dead, or soon mig-ht be, and they 
hurriedly carried him to his tent and attempted to re- 
store him to life; one of them poured a dipper full of 
Medford rum into him and not long- after he came to 
as drunk as a lord. Some of the boys who were 
unacquainted with the mysteries of Medford rum 
thoug-ht he was crazy and had only been saved from 
death to meet a worse fate, but Napoleon came around 
all rig-ht and being- a teetotaller was none the worse 
for his innocent acquaintance with the stimulater 
that restored him to life and happiness, to the inex- 
pressible joy of his tormentors, who seldom ran the 
risk of the blanket g-ame after that experience. 

We spent the summer and much of the fall of 
1862 in the performance of provost, or police, duty in 
New Berne, where we were quartered in some of the 
best residences vacated for our accommodation at the 



70 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE 

close of the battle we had fought below the cit}-. We 
saw much of the "intellig-ent contraband" while there 
as well as in other localities in the South, and a more 
gentle, kindly, good natured, well behaved people I 
never saw. Uncle Tom and Aunt Chloe were in evi- 
dence on every hand, but we looked in vain for a Si- 
mon Legree. One would naturally conclude that 
these negToes must have been a good people at heart 
and well brought up by their Southern masters and I 
guess that is about the size of the situation. Aside 
from his love of liberty there seemed little cause of 
discord between the white master and the negro slave, 
but on the contrary the respect and affection of the 
slave was largely reciprocated by the affection of the 
master and his family; facts perhaps overlooked in 
the period of reconstruction, when the clinging vine 
was substituted for the stalwart oak under which it 
had been sheltered and to whose branches it clung for 
care and protection. Where in the record of human 
affairs is there a finer example than that of the faith- 
ful care of the masters' families by the slaves while 
the former were fighting the battles of the Confeder- 
acy? Not a single example of wrong perpetrated by 
the slave against the master or the family left to his 
care; unless running away to secure his liberty be ac- 
counted as such. And what a record these lowly 
sons and daughters of Africa made in caring for and 
helping along- the escaping Union prisoners, thous- 
ands of whom appeared at the negro cabins within 
the Confederate lines during the war to ask for food 
and shelter and help on their way back to the Union 
lines, and not one was denied or betrayed! Yet these 
splendid qualities could hardly be said to fit these un- 
fortunate people to exchange places with their mas- 
ters in the field of statecraft, or to any considerable 



ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE 7l 

extent participate with them in the duties of such a 
field; althoug-h thej most strong-lj commended their 
elevation from chattels to the high plain of the civil 
rig-hts of American citizenship, such as our own race 
enjoys in a state of gfuardianship. 

But I am g-etting" too serious for the occasion and 
some of its incidents I have in mind. Shortly after 
we reached New Berne I was posted with a squad of 
men on one of the main roads leading- out of the town 
and when morning- came a stream of "runaway nig- 
g-ers" beg-an pouring- in upon us. I remember one lot; 
it was a black mother with a half dozen little pick- 
aninnies that mig-ht all have been born at the same 
time, judg-ing by their size. They were in a one-horse 
tip cart which looked like a crow's nest. I addressed 
the mother with: "Who do you belong- to. Auntie?" 
"I 'long to you all now I reck'n." "Who does this 
horse and cart belong to?" " 'Long to you all now I 
reck'n." I sent one of the boys into town with them 
to look up a vacant house to locate them in with or- 
ders to bring back the team and he shortly after re- 
turned with it. As near as I could learn he found a 
little house on the outskirts of the city, drove into the 
lot and instead of helping the mother out politely and 
lifting the babies out for her, he removed the tail board 
of the cart, unhitched the box in front and gently 
raised it so as to slide the whole family out behind, 
returned it to its place, mounted the box and drove 
away, leaving the little family in full possession of 
their new found liberty. On another occasion I was 
returning to camp from the city and met a very old 
negro woman who was evidently a new comer and 
somewhat curious as to what a Yankee looked like — 
all Northern soldiers were Yankees. When I reached 
the old woman she stopped and looking at me said: 



72 ADVANCE ON NEW BERNE 

"Is jou Marse Yankee?" "Yes, Auntie." "Den God 
bres jou' soul Marse Yankee." Apparently from the 
bottom of her heart. While we were out on picket 
a few miles from the city a negro man came along- 
on his way to New Berne and one of the boys asked 
him how far it was and he answered "About tree 
good looks sah!" That is, you could take a look at 
the point where they stood; then go to the further- 
most point seen and look again; then repeat your last 
performance and you could see New Berne. 

We indulged in daily drills on the outskirts or in 
the streets of the town while stationed there and one 
day I was practicing my company in skirmish line 
firing on the advance; the men were instructed to 
each aim at an object a few hundred yards av.'ay, but 
their guns were supposed to be unloaded; one man, 
however, had overlooked unloading his piece when he 
came off guard and innocently blazed away at the 
head of a negro four hundred yards from him, and 
shot his hat off. The old darkey suddenly raised his 
hand to his head, and we thought the accident seri- 
ous but the wool was only scorched a little. 

I had occasion during the summer to drop into a 
small rough board shack in town where a middle aged 
"contraband" kept a few things for sale, and after 
buying something of him he handed me a "shin 
plaster" and asked "What kine er money you call dis 
hyr sah?" I examined it and asked him where he got 
it. "Got it fum a soger sah." "What did you give 
him for it?" "Some backer and de res in change." 
The shin plaster looked like a North Carolina state 
bank bill but it was merely a sticker taken from a 
dollar bottle of the Perry Davis Painkiller, which 
had a big fig-ure one in each corner and promised to 
pay the bearer one cent on return of the empty bot- 



ADVANCE ON NEW BEKNE. 73 

tie. The soldier bad passed it for a one dollar bill 
and, as before stated, received the tobacco boug-ht 
and the balance of the dollar in chang-e. When I 
explained the nature of the bill to the black mer- 
chant do you suppose he was indig-nant? No, not 
he. Most white men would have been. He simply 
stood with his arms akimbo and laug-hed as thoug-h 
"his sides would split" with the thunder roar of 
mirth that rolled from his lips. 

I have spoken of Corporal Pierce and his mission 
from Fortress Monroe to Washing-ton, where he met 
President Lincoln and General Scott, and the latter 
told his experience as a corporal and later as the com- 
mander-in-chief of the army. I have since learned 
Corporal Pierce was a deleg^ate to the national con- 
vention that nominated Lincoln; private secretary to 
Salmon P. Chase, when g-overnor of Ohio and a mem- 
ber of cong-ress, and a lawyer in Boston when the war 
broke out that in his eag-erness to join the ranks of 
his country's defenders closed his office, went down to 
the wharf and hired a boatman to row him out to a 
steamer at anchor in the harbor loaded with troops 
bound for the seat of war and joined them. 



CHAPTER V 

CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

In the summer and fall of 1862, our experience 
was chiefly confined to drill and discipline, with an 
occasional expedition into the enemy's country. On 
g-uard mount and dress parade, spotless clothing-, 
white gfloves, polished shoes, belts and brasses and 
g-listening- muskets and bayonets were the order of 
the day, and the spirit of emulation ran higfh among* 
the soldiers and the different companies of the regi- 
ment, but an occasional infraction of discipline would 
occur as a reminder that we were still ordinary mor- 
tals, sometimes not unmixed with humor. One of the 
methods of punishment for such lapses was barrel 
drill. When a soldier had departed from his duty 
and obligations to such an extent as to be condemned 
to this punishment a lig-ht barrel with a hole cut in 
the bottom big- enough to let his head through com- 
fortably, was turned bottom side up and slipped down 
over his shoulders and he was g-iven a beat to march 
for a stated time. The punishment was not severe, 
but was intended to be humiliating-. I doubt, how- 
ever, whether it was ever visited on any person not 
beyond the reach of humiliation by any means. 

In those days there were frequently parties of 
finely dressed naval officers ashore and on one occa- 
sion such a party passed by the quarters of one of 



CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 75 

our companies when a soldier was on barrel drill. 
One of the staves was off the side of his barrel and 
when the officers passed his beat he promptly came 
to attention and standing- as straig-ht as an arrow 
thrust his arm out throug-h the g-ap in the side of the 
barrel and saluted them "in one time and four mo- 
tions." It is safe to say that all parties to the cere- 
mony enjoyed it as much as the situation would per- 
mit, and the soldier became the hero of the hour. 

The naval officers, as well as some other officers, 
and often the boldest and the bravest, sometimes fell 
short of the strictest requirements of discipline in 
personal conduct when off duty. The following- was 
told me by a friend then in command of our fleet in 
the Appomattox operating- ag-ainst Petersburg-, Vir- 
g-inia, in the sieg-e that closed with the surrender of 
General Lee's army, who at the time we were in New 
Berne commanded a gfun boat in the fleet there. His 
executive officer was a handsome, bright, brave young- 
fellow and, according- to practice, frequently went 
ashore on leave of absence but sometimes came back 
late at night stimulated to a degree not calculated to 
advance the discipline of the service. At last the 
captain warned him that another such an exhibition 
would result in his report to the commander of the 
fleet and the young man promised most solemnly that 
no occasion for such a report would occur. In those 
days naval officers on shore were usually dressed with 
exquisite taste; the}^ wore spotless white trousers, 
vest, shirt front and collar, with nobby blue sack 
coats and panama hats when the weather permitted. 
The young man referred to often went ashore after 
he was admonished and returned all right, but one 
day, dressed in his best, he went the rounds with his 
congenial companions and came along side his vessel 



76 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

very late at nig-ht. The captain was on the quarter 
deck and heard a strug-gle at the gfang y^^3.j near the 
water line, then a splash as though a man was over- 
board and shortly after the executive officer ran up 
the gang- way dripping* like a drowned rat, to the 
deck where he confronted his captain with a salute 
and "Captain, I'm not drunk sir!" and he wasn't. He 
was not reported and he never afterwards g"ave occa- 
sion for criticism. 

General Burnside with his second and third bri- 
g-ades enlarg-ed and formed into divisions left us in 
the summer of 1862, to join General McClellan in his 
operations ag^ainst Richmond, leaving" our military 
department and troops under the command of Gener- 
al John G. Foster, a very efficient officer who had the 
affection of the soldiers and their respect and confi- 
dence without limit. He had ten or twelve thousand 
men under his command which later became the 
eig"hteenth army corps, Burnside's command becoming 
the ninth army corps, and in the fall we went into 
camp to prepare for the field again. The peninsular 
campaign of McClellan had failed; the president had 
issued his proclamation freeing the slaves unless the 
Confederates should lay down their arms before Jan- 
uary 1st, 1863; General Pope had issued his order 
"Headquarters in the saddle," led his army to the 
most disastrous defeat it suffered throughout the war, 
at the second Bull Run battle, and invited the com- 
ment from Lee that "Nothing more could be expect- 
ed from a man who had his head quarters where his 
hind quarters oug-ht to be," and Antietam's bloody 
but indecisive battle had shown the temper still left 
in the never to be forgotten army of the Potomac. 
What would come next? was the question uppermost 
in the minds of the soldier element. Burnside was 



CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 77 

appointed to command that army. He was a hand- 
some charming- man; the soldiers in our North Caro- 
lina conting-ent all loved him; v/e would turn out at a 
moment's warning- to wildly cheer and toss our caps 
in the air for him, but we had more confidence in the 
leadership of his subordinate generals than in him 
and looked for nothing better than the disaster of 
Fredericksburg, which quickly followed, about the 
middle of December, 1862. 

To eng-age the attention of the Confederate 
troops in North Carolina and hold them from com- 
bining- with Lee's army in Virginia against Burnside, 
we broke camp on December 12th, and took up the line 
of march about ten thousand strong, into the interior. 
The first nig^ht we bivouacked about twelve miles 
outside our New Berne lines. The nig-ht v^^as cold 
and frosty and each regiment had a plentiful supply 
of burning- rails along its lines before the men rolled 
themselves up in their blankets and stretched out on 
the freezing- g-round to doze away the hours until the 
dawn of the coming day. Strong guards were thrown 
out so that we should not be surprised by the enemy 
and a line of glistening artillery occupied our front 
ready for instant action. 

The next morning we were up early, coffee was 
soon distributed and swallowed with the bread and 
meat ration from our haversacks and we were on the 
march. Our first experience was crossing- a stream 
over which there was no bridg-e. My company was 
on the left flank, the last company in the column; 
the companies preceding us had dodg-ed the water 
by stringing- out in single file along- some fallen trees 
used by the side of the road as a foot bridg-e, but we 
dashed into the water about three feet deep, forming 
a pool fifty or a hundred feet long, plentifully mixed 



78 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

with ice that had frozen on it the nig-ht before, and 
when in the middle of it some of us went down to our 
necks in a hole that we fell into in the broken cordu- 
roy road at the bottom of the pool. But there was 
no time to stop and dry ourselves, if we^ were so in- 
clined. Out of the water and on the double quick we 
went to catch up, and as the head of the reg^iment 
kept rig-ht on going- after it crossed the pool we 
had plenty of time to double quick and get up steam 
for heating purposes before the ranks were again 
closed, and the rattling- discharge of fire arms not far 
off in our front indicating that we were striking the 
enemy's pickets, did not tend to decrease our speed 
when we g"ot together ag-ain. The cold and frozen 
ground of the morning' was followed by muddy roads 
during- the day and a bivouac in the soft soil of an 
old field the nig-ht following", where our rubber blank- 
ets froze to the earth beneath us. 

The next day our experience was similar to the 
one preceding until about noon, having flanked the 
enemy's works in front of Kinston, we came down on 
his rear at Southwest creek. Our batteries were 
rushed forward into action and opened a furious fire 
on the enemy, while our regiment went down into a 
swamp and across a mill race on the run to join the 
regiment at the head of the column in the fight only 
to get in as the enemy abandoned their artillery and 
fled. By our energy we won an opportunity to cap- 
ture three or four good hogs which we killed and ate 
in two hours, while the rest of the army marched by 
and left us to bring up the rear after dark the night 
following over a road half knee deep in slush and 
mud previous to a freezing night's experience without 
fires in an old cotton field to prepare for the battle of 
Kinston on the morrow, on which hundreds of our 



CAMPAIGNING IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 7'i 

bniA^e fellows were to g-o down in death or v/ith ug-lj 
wounds. 

The dawn of December 14, 1862, folloAving- a 
comfortless bivouac without fires to dry our feet and 
leg-s after the march throug-h mud and water of the 
nig-ht before and chilled with the freezing tempera- 
ture, found us up and read}- for the coming- battle 
which was to open in our immediate front. Shortly 
after there was a hurrying' to and fro of staff officers 
and orderlies, a distribution of extra ammunition, 
followed by the orders to fall in and regiment after 
regfinient broke into columns of fours and marched 
up the main hig-hway leading- to the enemy's position, 
which was soon developed by the skirmishers in front 
as the familiar rattling fire of musketry- told us. This 
was promptly followed by the deployment of our troops 
in line of battle on the rig-ht and left of the road, and 
their rapid advance in this formation, while battery 
after battery dashed forward at the g-allop, the driv- 
ers rowelling- their horses' sides with savag-e spurs 
and the animals foaming- with sweat as they plung-ed 
madly forward as though eag-er for the fray. We 
were not long- in coming tog-ether. The battle rag-ed 
for hours and victory finally perched upon our ban- 
ners, but as usual, we paid dearly for it, for we were 
fig-hting- foemen worthy of our steel. We had flanked 
the enemy's entrenchments, took them in the rear 
and foug-ht them in an open field, thanks to the skill 
of out- commanding- g-eneral. Not only this, but they 
fought with the Neuse river behind them, and we 
pushed them so rapidly when they began to give way 
that hundreds, unable to escape across the bridge, 
fell into our hands as prisoners of war. The Confed- 
erates were commanded by General Evans, who com- 
manded their side at Balls Bluff, in Virginia, a little 



80 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTPI CAKOLIXA. 

more than a year before, where the lamented Baker, 
colonel of the First California reg-iment, a United 
States senator of Oreg"on, and one of the most elo- 
quent orators and disting-uished statesmen and patri- 
ots of the time, met his death; and we had the tables 
turned on the Confederate leader. We had him and 
his army in the same position that he had Baker and 
his associates at Balls Bluff, on a battle held with a 
river in their immediate rear. 

We followed the retreating- enemy across the riv- 
er, through and beyond the town of Kinston and in 
addition to the prisoners captured, relieved him of 
much, if not all, of his artillery, but were told by 
some of the men captured that we would find plenty 
of the boys up the country where we were g-oing-, 
which we learned later by the warm reception tliej- 
g-ave us. 

We spent the following- nig-ht agreeably in the 
town of Kinston, and the next day, after burying- our 
dead, we beg"an the march to Goldsboro to destroy an 
extensive bridg-e and tressel work on a trunk line of 
railroad connecting- the theater of war in Virg-inia 
with the states to the south, and their indispensable 
supply of men and means to hold that field of opera- 
tions. We jog-g-ed along- the first day out without 
any occurrence of unusual interest and the following- 
nig-ht enjoj'ed a most comfortable bivouac, for we had 
plenty of pitch pine fence rails to burn and relays of 
men kept up the fire all nig-ht long while their com- 
rades slumbered sweetly, notwithstanding- the freez- 
ing- temperature. I had captured a big- black boy 
about six feet tall and two hundred pounds in weig-ht 
at Kinston and took him along- with me to "tote" 
my blankets. When nig-ht came his black face and 
the whites of his eyes made him a shining- mark for 



CAMPAIGXIXG IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 81 

the boys bent on mischief, and as they hardlj consid- 
ered a ''nig-g-er" a man and brother on such occasions 
he was frequently- the victim of a clod hurled out of 
the darkness at him in a way not calculated to in- 
crease his comfort. To protect him I gave him a 
place beside me in the line where we lay and upon 
waking- up in the nig-ht from an oppressive feeling- I 
found him lying- on his back soundly sleeping- with 
one of his ponderous leg-s thrown across my body, 
which I was not slow in reminding- him of the neces- 
sity of removing-. I kept him with me until we re- 
turned to New Berne where I gave him up to a friend 
in the quartermaster's department, who in later 
years became secretary of the commonwealth of Mas- 
sachusetts, with the recommendation that he was 
faithful. In those days if a plantation neg-ro had 
one failing- more prominent than another it was in his 
stock of "g-ray backs," and from the frec^uent remind- 
er which my friend g-ave me of the recommendation 
as to the faithfulness of this particular plantation 
darkey I suspect he learned that fact by experience. 

The forenoon following- our last bivouac we push- 
ed on towards our destination as rapidh^ as possible, 
but about noon, near Whitehall, we struck something- 
and our reg-iment was ordered to the head of the col- 
umn, where we found ourselves in position to form 
line of battle and advance throug-h a belt of timber 
to the Neuse river and relieve a skirmish line eng-ag-- 
ed with the enemy posted on the opposite bank, about 
fifty or a hundred yards away. We promptly formed a 
line and advanced in the perfection of dress parade 
order to the business before us on the river bank and 
there paid our respects to our Confederate friends for 
an hour or so, while the main body of our army was 
passing in our rear on its march towards Goldsboro. 
In the meantime the enemy was not idle; they killed 



82 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

and wounded a larg-e per cent of our men; in my 
own company we lost nine men out of thirty-six and 
all except one were killed or so badly wounded as to 
be unfitted for further service. It often happens in 
war that in the g-reatest battles some of the heaviest 
losses of regiments, brig-ades and divisions are no 
hig-her in per centag-e than we suffered here in this 
insig-nificant affair; at Gettysburg", while the First 
Minnesota lost eighty per cent of its men, I knew a 
reg-iment that lost none, yet each was equally entitled 
to inscribe the name of that historic battle on its 
banners. While this little fig-ht was gfoing" on the 
g-reat battle of Fredricksburg- was being- foug^ht in 
Virg-inia, oneof the bloodiest of the war, and althoug-h 
the principal corps eng-ag-ed, that of Hancock, lost 
three thousand five hundred men, it is doubtful if 
that loss amounted to more than twenty-five per cent 
of the men of the corps on the field; the Irish brigade 
was, perhaps, an exception for the line of its dead 
was so close in order that the command was mistaken 
for a line of living- men lying down in battle array. 
But to return to the Whitehall field. After an 
hour's fig-liting- we were ordered back; we could get 
no nearer to the Confederates for there was no way 
to cross the river. Soldiers dread to be shot in the 
back so we edg-ed our way out of the timber to the 
clearing- in as perfect a line as it was possible to keep 
and shortly after joined the marching- column that 
had passed in our rear. 

We left four of the men of my company on the 
field as dead and dropped them from the rolls; after- 
wards two of them came to life and were cared for by 
the enemy, but one of them died in a few weeks and 
I first saw the other ag-ain in Massachusetts twenty- 
nine years later, apparently as young- and as sound as 
ever. We did not hear of the survival of these men 



CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 83 

until they had been dropped from our rolls about a 
3'ear. In one of the companies was a soldier who 
had g-one through all of the hardest and hottest of 
the Crimean war in Russia as a soldier of the English 
army, to meet his death on this field. In another a 
young- man received a painful flesh wound where he 
might have avoided it had he been in a sitting- pos- 
ture, and with a cry of pain declared: "I do wish 
they would compromise this thing-." In my own 
company was a father and son; the former about for- 
ty years old, the latter fourteen years of ag-e. They 
came to us as recruits and with big- bounties, after we 
had been out a year, and they had a hard road to 
travel among- the vets; but this battle set them all 
rig-ht. While it was always noticeable that some sol- 
diers found it convenient to fall out of the ranks Vviien 
a battle was near at hand, this father and son had 
difficulty to keep up v^^ith the column at other times 
but were always in the ranks when the fig-hting- be- 
gan. After we had fallen back about fifty or a hund- 
red feet from the river and halted the father said to 
me: "Orderly," — I was then orderly serg-eant — "can't 
Edwin (his boy) or I g-o back and try to get another 
shot?" To g-o back was certain death at the hands of 
the sharp shooters and he was denied the privileg-e. 
In the spring- of 1864, at the opening- of the campaig-n 
before Richmond, Virg-inia, the father and son were 
with the reg-iment as part of Heckman's brigade in a 
fight where out of three thousand five hundred men 
all were lost but five hundred, and the father and 
son were among the lost; the last seen of them in the 
smoke of battle they were lying down behind a little 
intrenchment they had made with their tin plates 
and cups and the father, with his Yankee twang, was 
saying: "Neow Edwin you do the loading and I'll do 
the firing and we'll get along all right." They were 



84 CAMPAIGNING IN NORTH CAROLINA. 

taken prisoners and the father was reported to be 
shot in nine places and the boy in three; thej' had 
twelve wounds in the famil}-. This was the last I 
heard of them until about twenty-eig^ht j^ears ag-o 
down in Illinois a very respectable brig^ht appearing- 
young- man approached me with a military salute and 
called me by name but I did not recognize him until 
he called attention to my old company and reg-iment, 
to the battle of Whitehall and Cole, father and son. 
He was the son, but not the little stoop shouldered 
slim fourteen-year-old boy I had known in the civil war. 

Let us ag-ain return to Whitehall and the march 
to Goldsboro, which we completed with the destruc- 
tion of the railroad bridge and tressel work mention- 
ed and turned back to New Berne. In our return 
march w^e passed throug-h man}^ miles of burning- for- 
est where the dang-er to our ammunition train and 
threatened loss of life throug-h its explosion was con- 
stant and pressing. The fire was the result of the 
carelessness of our own soldiers in not extingaiishing- 
the little fires they built along- the road to make cof- 
fee or sing-e their recently acquired fresh meat. 

We had no fig-hting on our return but the march 
and bivouac were similar to that already experienc- 
ed; the last nig-ht was bitter cold; the ice freezing 
about an inch on the water pools throug-h which our 
march led, one can imag-ine how comfortable were 
our quarters on the frozen g-round, wrapped in a sin- 
gle woolen blanket w4th a rubber blanket spread be- 
neath. After our return to New Berne one of the 
boys of the Ninth New Jersey was telling with con- 
siderable enthusiasm of his experience at Whitehall, 
where that regiment also suffered considerable loss, 
when a chaplain approached him with: "My young 
friend were you supported b}^ divine providence?" 
"No! We were supported by Belger's battery!" 



CHAPTER VI. 

SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN 

It was not long" after our return to New Berne 
from the Goldsboro expedition that we were ordered 
to strike our tents and break camp for a move to the 
vicinity of Morehead City, about forty miles away. 
Morehead City was a seaport town across the bay 
from Fort Macon, held by us, and the order indicated 
a movement with a fleet. We proceeded to our des- 
tination by rail and were ordered into camp a few 
miles back from Morehead, at Carolina City. We 
have some small cities out here in the west where the 
ambition to incorporate usually overleaps the villag-e 
incorporation and lands in that of the city, but we 
have nothing- to rival Carolina City. There was but 
one house in it, the home of a family named Lamb, 
where there was an interesting- daughter named Ma- 
ry, the most popular young- lady in town. Here we 
became brig-aded with a New Jersey regiment and a 
couple of reg-iments from Massachusetts, all pretty 
well acquainted with the fig-hting- qualities of each 
other, under the g-allant General Charles A. Heck- 
man of New Jersey, whose leadership was worth at 
least five hundred men on any hotly contested battle 
field, and this org-anization continued until at Drury's 
Bluff before Richmond, in May, 1864, when, "as the 
advance of the army of the James, on the Confederate 
capital," as the New York papers of the time said, 



86 SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN 

"attacked by overwhelming- numbers on front, flank 
and rear, it was then and not till then that the iron 
men of Heckman's brig-ade g-ave way." Its g-eneral, 
batterj', and three thousand men, out of three thous- 
and five hundred, were lost, and, as General Grant in 
his report of the war put it, General Butler, who 
commanded the army of the James, of which it was a 
part, "was as completely cut off from all further mil- 
itary operations as thoug-h placed in a bottle tig-htly 
corked," althoug-h he then had about twenty thous- 
and men out of action bui ready for it, not far in the 
rear of this disastrous field, which mig-ht have saved 
the day for the men who were the victims of such 
merciless destruction. The bottle was the angle be- 
tween the James and the Appomattox rivers, where 
Butler's army lay and the cork w^as the line of in- 
trenchments and Beauregard's army from river to riv- 
er across his front after this battle, which was never 
drawn until the campaign along the line of the army 
of the Potomac to the left of that position began in 
the early days of April, 1865, which resulted in the 
surrender of Lee and his generals with the fragment 
of that splendid fighting force, the army of Northern 
Virginia, which he had led with the genius of a great 
soldier from Fair Oaks to Appomattox. 

Our brigade was not alone at Carolina City. 
Many others were assembled there and the time w^as 
put in diligently with drill and discipline. About 
the first of January, 1863, we got a hint of what we 
were there for and shortly after we embarked on 
transports for Port Royal, South Carolina. Our reg- 
iment was assigned to the ship Morton, a large sail- 
ing vessel which was put in tow of a small steamer 
at Beaufort harbor and we began our voyage. The 
ship was from Bath, Maine, and her captain was a 



SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN. 8/ 

character. \Yheti on duty among- his men his favor- 
ite oath was: "G-d d— n my heart," which he hurl- 
ed rig-ht and left with g-reat vehemence and frequen- 
cy at\is subordinate officers and men, but he never 
failed to ask a blessing- from his place at the head of 
the table in the cabin at meal times. There was not 
much sense in his profanity or devotion in his prayer. 
He had a poor old steward, lean and skinny, and 
when he got into a genuine meid fit he stood him up 
and pounded him like a sand bag. Why the old devil 
was not thrown overboard for this practice was a 
mystery. Perhaps the steward had been accustomed 
to it so long that it was indispensable to his well be- 
ing. Not unfrequently he came out of it with a pair 
of black eyes which accorded well with his otherwise 
wretched appearance. His treatment recalls the sto- 
ry of an Irishman whose nag-ging wife had made life a 
burden to him. After his death she called him up 
throu<>-h a spiritual medium and the following con- 
versation occurred: -Is that you Jim?" "It is." "Are 
ye getting along as well as whin ye was with me?|| 
"T?n thousand times better." "And where are ye?" 

"I'm in hell." 

In the course of our voyage we arrived off the 
entrance to the harbor of Wilmington, North Caroli- 
na, about nine or ten o'clock at night— the previous 
voyage of the ship had been from Pensacola to Beau- 
fort harbor where we boarded her. All harbors con- 
trolled by the enemy were closely blockaded in those 
days by fleet and well armed vessels of our navy, and 
pretty soon one of them came steaming down on us 
with the challenge: "What ship is that?" The cap- 
tain shouted: "The ship Morton!" "Where are you 
from?" "Penseco!" And the rattle of drums on the 
war vessel told us they were clearing the deck for ac- 



88 SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN. 

tioii, but, after a G — d d — n mj heart from the cap- 
tain to soothe his feeling-s for the blunder of inviting 
a broadside by declaring- he was from "Penseco!" in- 
tending* Pensecola, towards which we v/ere sailing-, 
he answered "Beaufort!" but the sailors were sus- 
picious and would not take his word for it now for 
they g-ave us a looking- over before we were permitted 
to g-o on our way. 

We arrived at Port Royal in due time and were 
landed on the island of St. Helena, not where the 
g-reat Napoleon spent his last days, but nevertheless 
we soon learned we were exiled there for the short 
coming-s of some of our troops that had a fig-ht with 
a neg-ro settlement and cleaned it out and burned its 
villag-e. On these sea islands there were many ne- 
g-roes who were evidently importations from Africa. 
They could speak little or no Eng-lish and were not 
so g-entle and slow to ang-er as their brethren to the 
manner born, which was no doubt the cause for the 
collision coupled with the contemptuous treatment 
sometimes practiced towards the neg-roes by our sol- 
diers. Preaching- abolition in the North and even 
shedding- tears over Uncle Tom's Cabin did not soften 
the Northern soldier's heart enoug-h to lead him to 
tolerate what Miss Ophelia called shiftlessness, or 
modify to any extent his prejudice ag-ainst the negro 
race as he found it in the South, of which he was less 
tolerant in many respects than the slave masters and 
their families. General Hunter, in command of the 
Port Royal district, himself a Virginian, took up the 
neg-roes' cause and our men were not allowed, sing-ly 
or otherwise, to leave the island without a pass from 
headquarters; usually commissioned officers are al- 
lowed to g-o at pleasure within the picket lines, but 
that privileg-e was denied there. 



SOUTH CAROr.INA CAMPAIGN 89 

After the campaig-n closed in North Carolina I, 
with several other hrst serg-eants, had been promoted 
to be a lieutenant and it was with much difficulty we 
could g-et to Port Royal to be mustered in. We final- 
ly succeeded, however. Our muster in was an ac- 
ceptance of us as officers by the United States and we 
were thereupon entitled to draw our pay back to the 
date of ovir commissions from the g-overnor of the 
state, which we were not slov/ to take advantage of, 
as we had been commissioned for two or three months. 
We found the paymaster short of funds but he had 
enough of one dollar bills and twenty-five and fifty 
cent "shin plasters" to fit us out and as we were hard 
up we were willing to take almost anything-. He load- 
ed us down; we took the "shin plasters'" in sheets, 
like postag-e stamps; our pockets were filled with the 
stuff and fingers burning- to g-et rid of it. When 
loaded down with it we started for "Robber's Row," 
a string of building-s at Port Royal made up of shops 
which went by that name. The first shop we went 
into we spied some fine dress uniform hats rig-ged out 
with g-old ornaments, ostrich feathers and mixed gold 
bands and one of the crowd called out "How much 
for these hats?" "Fifteen dollars." "I'll take two,'' 
one for his chum, the other for himself; we were all 
crowned with them; no beating down of prices in 
that crowd. With such bargain we fitted ourselves 
out and proceeded to do the town within the rules of 
military discipline before departing for our island 
home on the following day. 

General Hunter was senior in point of commis- 
sion to our commander. Major General John G. Fos- 
ter, whom we adored, and therefore the latter was 
the subordinate, a situation he could not occupy un- 
der Hunter, so not long after our arrival he returned 



90 SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN 

to his department of North Carolina and we were left 
with heavy hearts. Soldiers have a fondness for 
g-ood leaders that ordinary civilians do not under- 
stand. Statesmen do, and therefore the demand for 
standing- armies in monarchies and the opposition to 
them in republics. How easy it would have been in 
our civil war for a supremely popular leader to tram- 
ple the civil power of the republic in the dust, when 
the feeling- ran hig-h that there was too much politics 
in the manag-ement of the army! But enoug-h of this; 
we loved General Foster and we disliked General 
Hunter, but we had "to g-rin and bear" the chang-e. 
We kept up our drill and discipline and were con- 
stantly becoming- more effective for active service un- 
til about the latter part of March orders came for us 
to go aboard transports to move on Charleston Har- 
bor, South Carolina. We were g-lad of the chang-e 
and not slow in g-etting- aboard ship. Military eti- 
quette placed the officers at the dining- table in the 
cabin on the rig'ht and left of the captain of the ship 
according- to rank, and the distribution of berths in 
the state rooms was also made by rank. I was the 
junior officer and the berths were exhausted with 
the last man in rank before me; not to break the or- 
der of military propriety I slept on the floor under 
his berth. 

We had a roug-h sea voyag-e and stopped at South 
Ediston Inlet about twenty miles south of the entrance 
to Charleston harbor, where we anchored a day or 
two, when we went back to Port Royal and had the 
g-ood luck to be sent from there to our old command- 
er in North Carolina a short time after; althoug-h 
we learned the order for our return was a mistake 
and a boat was dispatched to stop us, our steamer did 
her best and kept out of the way of the messeng-er. 



SOUTH CAROLINA CAMPAIGN. 91 

We preferred to die with Foster, whom we were go- 
ing to tig-ht for the relief of at little Washing-ton, 
North Carolina, rather than live with Hunter. About 
this time an interesting- incident occurred near South 
Kdiston Inlet. Colonel McDonald of the Forty-eighth 
New York was campaig'ning- down there with his reg- 
iment and met his brother who commanded a South 
Carolina reg-iment. They came tog-ether with true 
Scotch energy, determination and courag-e and in the 
battle that followed our McDonald came out ahead. 
The two brothers looked so much alike that the dar- 
kies, who feared the Southern one, would exclaim 
when our man suddenly came among- them: "Fo God 
dar comes Marse McDonald!" believing- him to be the 
Southern soldier of whose energ-y and push they had 
a holy horror. 

In the roug-h and tumble work of the civil war 
the oblig-ations of religion were not always most con- 
spicuous by the absence of their observance. One of 
the New York reg-iments in General Hunter's army in 
South Carolina had a very energ"etic, thoroug-h going 
and efl&cient colonel, formerly a regular officer, who 
was always ambitious to make his regiment a model 
for others. One day a chaplain of a Massachusetts 
regiment called at his headquarters and reported a 
very successful revival in his regiment in which twen- 
ty-five men had been baptized. At this news Colonel 
Dandy promptly called his adjutant and gave the fol- 
lowing order: "Adjutant, detail twenty-five men of 
the regiment to be baptized! I'll be d — d if I'll be 
outdone by any Massachusetts regiment in this bri- 
gade!" 



CHAPTER VII. 

SECOND CAMPAIGN IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 

On our return from Port Royal, South Carolina, 
to our old departments in North Carolina we were 
immediately dispatched to the relief of General Fos- 
ter, w^ho was besieg"ed by a Confederate force at Wash- 
ing-ton, in that state, about fifty or sixty miles from 
New Berne, and the tirst nig-htout we bivouacked on a 
plantation in the pineries which covered about lif- 
teen hundred acres, the owner of which, a middle- 
ag^ed man, was at home in his log house, and when 
asked how far it was to New Berne, from which we 
had marched that day, replied: "About fifteen miles 
I reckon — never was thar." To the inquiry as to how 
long he had lived there he answered: "All my life." 

The next day we pushed on by a forced march 
and late in the afternoon came to a strong position 
where we expected to find the enemy, as General Spi- 
nola had found him a few days before, but he was 
g-one. General Spinola of New York, who served in 
congress many years after the war, and died in the 
harness a few years ago, marched his brigade up to 
this position where he was brought to a halt by the 
well directed and destructive fire of the enem^-'s ar- 
tillery which commanded the entire front, and the po- 
sition of which, as well as that of the rest of the Con- 
federate force there, was well protected on the flanks 



IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 93 

by a swamp and thick undergrowth. The general 
retired with some haste, his brigade following, and 
as the stor}' ran, he became somewhat demoralized 
and ordered the heavy timber on each side of the road 
in his rear to be felled across the road to cover his 
retreat, with the exclamation: "This road must be 
barricaded be J — s!" It was said that the general 
wore a very high white collar and beneath bis w^hite 
shirt he wore a red one; that when the retreat ended 
his white collar was melted down and a red one occu- 
pied its former site, and the story went the rounds 
that he advanced on the enemy with a flag of truce 
and retreated with a hospital flag*. This was believ- 
ed to be his first experience in the face of an enemy 
with a large command. We found the intrenchments 
occupied by the enemy that repulsed him now vacant, 
and bivouacked for the night in their rear. My com- 
pany picketed the road leading- to the front; we post- 
ed three men in advance on the highway under cover 
of the timber and groups of threes to the right and 
left on diverging lines running back in the form of a 
flat-iron to a stream through swampy timbered ground 
with the rest of the compan}- in the rear as a reserve 
between the bivouac and the stream, the usual forma- 
tion under such circumstances. The general com- 
manding had gone out with a troop of cavalry of 
which we had no notice. About 11 o'clock at night I 
was visiting the picket posts to see that all was well 
and had partly crossed the stream on the highway 
under the shadow of the trees along fallen timber 
used as a foot-bridge, when I heard the clatter of 
horses' hoofs as they pounded their way at the gal- 
lop towards our front. I supposed it was a part}^ of 
guerrillas coming down on us to give the pickets a 
stirring- up, but only a solitary horseman appeared in 



94 SECOND CAMPAIGN 

the clearing about a hundred 3-ards in our front, his 
horse doing- its best. The night was still and the 
moonlight bright and beautiful, no sound on the si- 
lent air save the beating- of the hoofs of the stranger's 
horse as he dashed madl}^ forward with his burden; 
when sharply the picket's challenge of "Halt! who 
comes there?" rang out and was almost instantly fol- 
lowed by the shot of the cavalryman at the pickets 
and theirs at him in reply, as with a wild yell he 
came on throvigh and down the hill at the foot of 
which he came to the stream that crossed his path 
and to the realization of the fact that he was within 
friendly lines, but not before the long roll was beaten 
and the thousands of soldiers sleeping- soundly on the 
broad table land in the rear were aroused from their 
slumbers and formed in regimental lines preparatory 
to an advance on the phantom foe. The horseman 
was a cavalry soldier, and the bearer of dispatches 
from the bivouac of the division commander several 
miles in our front. No one was shot in the firing 
but the cavalryman's aim was so good that it grazed 
a tree within a foot of the head of one of the pickets, 
while their shots, quite naturally, w^ent wide of the 
mark out of respect for the courage of the rough rider. 
The evacuation by the enemy of the place we oc- 
cupied that night was an indication that they had got 
wind of the movement to relieve General Foster and 
concluded they had a more important field of useful- 
ness elsewhere than on battlefields along the line of 
our advance, and such we found to be the fact on the 
day following when we arrived on the ground of the 
abandoned siege. We had done our best to be in at 
the death by the forced marches we had made from 
the landing on the Neuse river, but we could not 
catch up to our friends of the opposition. 



IN NOKTH CAROLINA. 95 

We returned to New Berne where, and at Car- 
olina City, we put in the time with masterly inactiv- 
ity until about the first of July when the sieg-e of 
Vicksburg- was drawing- to a close and the battle of 
Gettysburg" was about to open, when a cav^alry raid 
to be supported by infantry and artillery was ordered 
in our department. Only part of our regiment was 
permitted to join this move and my company was not 
in it but by the kindness of the colonel I was allowed 
to g-o as a member of his staff, provided I was willing 
to walk eighty or a hundred miles toenjo}' that favor. 
We started out along- the Trent river early on the 
morning of the 1st or 2d of July, 1863, and the sun 
was onl}^ fairly up before its scorching* rays reminded 
us that we had no holiday feat before us; we wore 
regailation caps and a change to most any kind of 
hats would have been welcome. As we marched along- 
a few miles out of New Berne, our sappers and miners 
in the lead— men who repaired and built bridges — a 
negro coming from the opposite direction with an old 
felt hat on his head and a new straw hat on top 
of it passed near the sappers and miners when one of 
them, a big husky Irishman, reached out and lifting 
the hats from the negro's head, separated them, return- 
ed the felt hat to its place and put the straw hat on his 
own head as a substitute for his cap, which created a 
laugh and some criticism, met by the captor of the 
prize, who had not "cracked a smile" with the re- 
mark: "Wasn't that fair? Didn't I take wan and give 
him wan?" 

We continued our march to Trenton, about thir- 
ty or forty miles out, and to a junction of the "big 
roads" ten or twelve miles beyond, where we expect- 
ed to meet the enemy and intercept him in a move to 
cut off our returning cavalry. We were not disap- 



96 SECOND CAMPAIGN 

pointed, and here I came in for an opportunity to per- 
form my staff service, for I was permitted to operate 
in company with others in locating" the force we ex- 
pected to eng-ag-e and we were not long- in doing- it 
and in inviting- a sharp attack from its artillery which, 
among- other damag-es inflicted upon us, wounded both 
my g-allant chief and the horse that often carried him 
to the battle's front. We accomplished the object of 
our expedition and retired leisurely to our old 
field of inactivity to put in the rest of the summer 
and part of the following- fall, when we were ordered 
to Morehead City ag-ain to take a transport for Fort- 
ress Monroe, where we shortly after arrived and set 
out for our destination. We left port on Saturday- 
evening- and the next morning- the soldiers, who occu- 
pied the same deck with the horses of the field and 
staff officers, discovered a black neg-ro who had been 
g-iven a loung-e in the officers' quarters, the cabin, to 
sleep on, and the question circulated among- them, 
"What's that d — n nig-g-er doing- up there?" The 
colonel knew him to be one of the leading- men of his 
race in character and ability in the state of Massa- 
chusetts, and a minister of the g-ospel, so invited him 
to preach to the boys, which he did so effectively as 
to win their respect and sympathy. He was the chap- 
lain of a colored reg-iment commanded by Colonel 
Charles Beecher, a brother of Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. On our 
way when passing- Cape Hatteras, over an unusually 
quiet sea for that part of the Atlantic coast, during- 
the nig-ht we suddenly discovered a lig-ht not far 
ahead and coming- directly for us with g-reat speed; it 
was on a larg-e steamer which seemed bent on our de- 
struction, but our pilot, reg-ardless of the rules of 
navigation, which were disregarded by the pilot of 



IN NORTH CAROLINA. 97 

the other vessel, sheered our steamer off so that her 
after part only collided with that of the other craft 
and we got off with little more than a reminder that 
we had narrowly escaped the fate of the Monitor that 
sunk the Merrimac, and which went down in a storm 
not far from the scene of our collision. We arrived at 
Fortress Monroe and were ordered with the rest of 
our brig-ade, Heckman's, to Newport News and there 
went ashore, pitched our tents and begfan preparations 
to join in the successful advance of the armies of the 
Potomac and the James which was to reach the cita- 
del of the enemy's power and bring- the four years' 
war to a close with the overthrow of the Southern 
Confederacy. 

Newport News at the time we went there was 
a mere elevated barren head land on the east side of 
the mouth of the James river over which a few shan- 
ties were scattered, but now it is the seat of a great 
ship building- plant with a capital of fifteen million 
dollars which employs more than six thousand men; 
an example of the industries that have sprung- up in 
favorable localities in the South since the irresistible 
tide of the civil war swept slavery away and g-ave to 
free labor a hig-her plane of respectability upon which 
to develop the neg-lected resources of that section. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



ORGANIZATION OF COLOKED CAVALRY. 

Late in the fall of 1863 it was rumored at New- 
port News that Major Georg'e W. Cole and Major 
Jeptha Garrard of the Third New York cavalry would 
organize two regiments of colored cavalry to be re- 
cruited from the slaves within our lines in southern 
Virginia, and that these regiments would eventually 
become a part of the regular arm}-. Shortly after 
this my chum and I, both lieutenants in the Twenty- 
third Massachusetts infantry, with strong indorse- 
ments from the commander of our regiment, present- 
ed ourselves to Major Garrard and requested appoint- 
ments as line oiiicers in his regiment. He treated us 
and our endorsements with scant courtesy, although 
the latter were from one of the ablest, bravest and 
most heroic regimental commanders. Lieutenant Col- 
onel John G. Chambers, who fell mortally wounded 
at Drury's Bluff a few months later, while leading 
his regiment in a battle where it was reported of his 
brigade: "When attacked by overwhelming numbers 
on front, flank and rear, it was then and not till then 
that the iron men of Heckman's brigade gave way." 
Not long after this Major George W. Cole, an impul- 
sive, warm hearted and dashing officer, rode over to 
our camp and offered each of us a captain's commis- 
sion in his regiment which we accepted and shortly 
afterward I received the following order: 




COL. GKO. w. coi.K, BKKv. bkk;. gkn'l 



ORGANIZATION OF COLORED CAVALRY 99 

Heao Quarters Dept. of Virginia and North Carolina 
Fort Monroe, Va., Dec. 14th, 1863. 
Special Orders, No. 147. 

Extract. 
The following named officers are hereby detailed on re- 
cruiting- service for the 2nd Regiment U. S. Colored Cavalry 
and will report to Major George W. Cole, 3rd New York Cav- 
alry, Chief Recruiting Officer. Lt. Robert Dollard, 23rd 
Mass. Vols. By Command of Major General Butler. 

R. C. Davis, 
Assistant Adjutant General. 

Prompt response was made to the order and I 
was soon eng^aged at Norfolk, Virginia, in recruiting* 
"intelligent contrabands" to form the Second United 
States Colored Cavalry in which I was shortly after 
commissioned as captain. In those days there was so 
much prejudice against the ex-slave being- allowed to 
lay down his life in the cause of the Union, that was 
sure to g"ive him his liberty, that white men who ac- 
cepted commissions as officers in reg^iments made up 
of such material were in a measure ostracised by 
their fellow officers of white regiments, and it was 
understood that the policy of the Southern Confeder- 
acy would be to treat all officers connected with such 
colored regiments the same as John Brown was treat- 
ed, on the charge of aiding- and abetting a slave in- 
surrection. This threat was never carried into exe- 
cution, but the policy of the Confederates not to recog- 
nize the negro as a soldier entitled to exchange as a 
prisoner of war forced the United States to oppose 
that view in justice to the negro and out of this dif- 
ference came the suspension of exchange and the 
glutting of Southern prisons like Andersonville with 
our men. 

The camp of our new regiment was located be- 
tween Hampton, Virginia, and Fortress Monroe, and 



100 ORGANIZ ATION ON COLOKED CAVALRY 

it was not long- after we officers began recruiting that 
our services were needed there for organization, for 
the negroes took to the idea of becoming soldiers so 
quickly that we soon had our eighty five men for 
each of the ten companies. To organize them into 
companies and a regiment was the work of a few 
days only, but to teach them the drill and discipline 
necessary for field service was somewhat more diffi- 
cult. They were submissive and obedient and ac- 
commodated themselves to the exactions of the ser- 
vice freely so that at the end of about sixty days we 
had them in fair shape to take the field. During the 
process of organization at one time there was a hitch 
in the commissary department and the men were 
short of rations long- enough to get quite hungry be- 
fore the necessary supplies were secured and when 
the bread and coffee without milk or sugar was dis- 
tributed they made an interesting study as they stood 
in g"roups in the company street eating their dry 
bread and drinking their coffee while they were shiv- 
ering with cold in the falling snow. From one group 
I heard, "Dis looks lak home an it feels lak home 
too." Poor darkies the home they knew must have 
been desolate indeed. 

The First United States Colored Cavalry organiz- 
ed under Major Garrard, of which he became colonel, 
had commenced its organization a little earlier than our 
regiment and should have been better prepared for 
the field when the inquiry came from General Butler 
about the 1st of March, 1864, as to how soon it would 
be ready for the field. The answer as reported was 
unsatisfactory and the same inquiry came to Colonel 
Cole, commanding our regiment, who replied: "Twen- 
ty-five minutes to march and half that time to light." 
— G. W. Cole, Colonel. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK. 

In response to the report of Colonel Cole, men- 
tioned at the close of the last chapter, General But- 
ler ordered us into the field and we at once broke 
camp and started for the front near Suffolk, Virg-inia, 
where we relieved the Twentieth New York Cavalry 
from its duty to keep a lookout for the enemy in our 
immediate front. We had not been there long- before 
General Judson Kilpatrick, who had just completed 
his raid with a larg"e cavalry force around the east 
side of Richmond, to Yorktown, came up and took 
observations of the enemy's location, shook his head 
and returned. We supposed he contemplated return- 
ing- north on the west side of Richmond with his com- 
mand and concluded he would run into a hornet's 
nest, as we did later. Not long" after this the enemy 
retired from our front and we scoured the country for 
miles without finding" any trace of them, so we con- 
cluded they had left. A few days later an old darkey 
came to our headquarters and reported that there 
were thirty conscripts taken from Suffolk, about three 
miles from our lines, and being- held at the Bethel 
Church three miles beyond Suffolk, with a small 
guard. The darkey had been loaded up with the sto- 
ry to g-et us into a trap as later developments proved. 
Not long- after his report was made we started out 



102 SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK 

with seven companies and arriving- at Suffolk, Lieu- 
tenant Dodge, now paymaster general of the United 
States army after more than forty years' service, was 
sent out with his company on the Blackv/ater road 
near the location of the church, to cut off the escape 
of the conscripts as the other six companies which 
were to march out on another road, came up from an 
opposite direction to capture them. My company was 
one of the six, with which was the howitzer section, 
a battery of two small guns. 

We had barely reached the timber which cut off 
the view from Suffolk, about three miles out, v.-hen 
we reached the enemy's pickets and started two of our 
companies after them on the gallop while the other 
companies and the battery kept up their former 
pace at the walk for a few minutes when a courier 
from Dodge came galloping up with a message 
that he was being driven back by a superior force. 
We instantly reversed the order of our march which 
brought my company to the head of the column and a 
message was sent to the two companies pursuing 
the enemy's pickets to return. As we came out of 
the timber on our way back to Suffolk we could see 
army wagons moving toward the town on the road 
which Dodge had taken and perhaps three miles away 
from us. This did not look to one experienced in war 
like a conscript movement and prett}^ soon we were 
made to feel that it was not for the}' opened fire on 
us with a field battery at long range, the lire of 
which, though not accurate, was somewhat demoral- 
izing to both the men and horses not yet acquainted 
with that kind of service. It became a race between 
our four companies and the enemy as to which side 
would first get into Suffolk, and the earthworks 
which two years before had protected our soldiers 



SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK 103 

ag"ainst the siege of the Confederate General, Long-- 
street. The enemy were too fast for us and we were 
left to confront them from the outside. Company B 
to which the battery was attached, swung* into line 
in front of a formidable battery of several grins in an 
old intrenchment and the howitzer's section came 
quickly into line on the rig-ht of the company and 
somewhat in advance under the direction of Colonel 
Cole, and at the same time Captain Kent of Company 
K was directed by him to take the junction of the 
hig-hway and railroad leading- out of tov.-n to cut off 
the advance of the enemy's cavalry and I was ordered 
to charg"e them with D. my company. The enemy's 
artillery was by this time playing- on us with canis- 
ter and solid shot at four to five hundred yards dis- 
tance, their infantry held in reserve and their cavalry 
riding- down upon us with "the rebel yell." In g-al- 
loping- forward at the head of my company to charg-e 
as commanded by the Colonel I thought we could ride 
against the enem}' with such rapidity as to turn 
them back and they did fall back until Company C. 
of our detachment losing its organization broke into 
my command and demoralized it to such an extent as 
to encourage them to turn on us again, when we 
came together so that the fight was reduced to duel- 
ling at close quarters in which they were too much 
for us. In this part of the fight Lieutenant Van 
Lew fell mortally wounded. He and I were but a few 
feet apart at the time and the only white men in our 
group of a dozen or two blacks. Most of the men 
with whom I started the charge fell back, unless un- 
horsed or otherwise placed hors de combat, to the 
demoralized mass created by the loss of the organiza- 
tion of the company referred to. The rest of us got 
back later as best we could to the main body of our 



104 SECOND BATTI.E OF SUFFOLK 

force. I could not g"o ahead for the enemy barred the 
way at ten or twenty paces distance ready to capture 
me. I could not turn squarely around and retreat 
without inviting- a shower of bullets that would fin- 
ish my career. So I slipped down the rig-ht side of 
my horse Indian fashion, hanging- to the breast strap 
on the other side and started off towards another part 
of the field occupied by the enemy's infantry, soon 
being covered by a tall board fence which stood be- 
tween me and the advance of the cavalry we had been 
engaged with, but I made little progress for my horse 
frightened by a cannon ball which tore through a 
small dwelling house near by, "bucked," as they say 
on the plains, shot me headlong- to the g-round where 
I lay a few seconds thinking of further operations. 
My horse ran off toward the enemy's infantry. My 
men were now nearly all back to the starting part of 
the charge, the head of the enemy's cavalry not more 
than twenty yards away, with the fence between us 
and I was understood not to need any more attention. 
I was reported in the newspapers as killed but I was 
never more alive. I soon sprang up and darted 
through a dwelling house near which I had fallen, 
and pursued a line of retreat through the infant- 
ry and artillery fire of the enemy that kept the house 
between me and their cavalry. In the mean time 
Kent had dismounted his company and occupied the 
house I have referred to with his men to resist the 
enemy's advance down the railroad which passed near 
it, but his horses had broken away and galloped to 
the rear and his men, except two or three who were 
later surrounded by the enemy and shot as they came 
out firing, had retreated. Colonel Cole had directed 
the action of our battery but its ammunition was so 
poor that its shots fell within fifty or one hundred 



SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK. 105 

yards of the muzzles of the g"uns, while the enemy's 
battery which he soug-ht to attack was then four 
hundred yards away pounding- into us on every part 
of the held. By this time the fig-ht and the flig-ht 
was g-eneral, and the Colonel, like an Irishman at 
Donny brook Fair, on his big- sorrel horse "Jeff," one 
of the fleetest in the army, with drawn saber was 
striking- for a head wherever it presented itself on an 
enemy's shoulders. In one instance, seeing- a Confed- 
erate ride down on one of our dismounted soldiers 
whose horse had been shot under him and attempt to 
cut him down, he dashed forward and a few leaps of 
his horse broug-ht him to the assailant whom he ran 
through the body with his saber. As near as we 
could learn we were fig-hting- Deering's irregoilar di- 
vision of infantry, artillery and cavalry, which out- 
numbered us at least ten to one and, of course, it 
made short work of us. The light lasted about twen- 
ty" minutes, until the two companies sent out to charg-e 
the enemy's pickets had time to rejoin us — to save 
them we were making- the lig-ht — when we were 
driven from the field in considerable disorder, having- 
one of our howitzers blown up and dismounted by the 
artillerv fire after we had retreated a mile or so. We 
lost one officer and several men killed and wound- 
ed; several horses, stands of arms and equipments 
were also lost, and I think some of us white folks 
lost our patience with colored soldiers for the time 
being-, 3^et, considering- their bring-ing- up as slaves, 
and the short training- they had as soldiers, they did 
well to do no worse under the conditions of attack by 
an overwhelming-ly superior force. 

My boy, Ben Hinton, a tall broad shouldered 
brig-ht negro about my ag-e, whom I had as a servant 
in my old reg-iment and who went with me as such 



106 SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK 

into the cavalr}- service, was at the battle of Suffolk. 
He had often said he would take mj body from the 
field if I should be killed in battle and send it home 
to my kindred. At this affair Ben rode my spare 
horse, caug'ht the one I was thrown from, left the 
field on the run and only stopped running- when he 
g^ot to Portsmouth, twenty miles away. When he 
came back I said to him, "Ben I suppose you thought 
I was killed when I fell from my horse." "Yaas sir." 
"Don't you remember about telling- me that if I 
should be killed you would g-et my body and send it 
back to my friends?" "Yaas Cap'n but when I seed 
all de res of de nig"g"ers running I rec'ned it was 
time for me to run too." On the evening of the fig-ht 
one of the men was overheard to explain his opera- 
tions, he said: "I lost ma horse en was g-wine to de 
rear as fas as ah could when I seed de limber (g^un 
carriage from which the howitzer had been torn by a 
cannon shot from the enemy) kum'n, an when dat 
limber kum along- whar I was ah got onto dat limber 
en it didn't make any difference wheder dey said lim- 
ber to the front or limber to de rear, I stuck to dat ar 
limber." A wiser man could have done no bet- 
ter. My first lieutenant at this time was James C. 
Toy, a Marylander, whose father was a slave owner 
before the war. He understood the negro character 
well and became very efficient in their management. 
He was a very cool, deliberate man and noticing one 
of our company trudging away from the battle field 
with his carbine and equipments, together with his 
saddle and other horse equipments, asked him: "Saw- 
yer what are you doing with those horse equip- 
ments?" to which the soldier replied "De Capen tole 
us boys we would be charged on de pay roll wid any 
quipments we lost and when ma horse was shot ah 



SECOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK 107 

took off de quipments an am g-^vine to save em!" 
The occasion warranted it and the ofiicer directed the 
boy, who was hardl}^ more than sixteen years of age, 
to drop them. In his dismounted condition he would 
do well to save himself from the pursuing- enemy. 
Another incident of this battle was that of a Confed- 
erate soldier attempting- to shoot one of my men with 
a big Colts revolver. He was but a few feet away 
when he attempted to tire at the man and when the 
revolver failed to go off as he pulled the trigger he 
threw it at the man he was attempting to shoot and 
lodging between himself and the pummel of his sad- 
dle he brought it from the field. It had the initials 
R. D. cut in large letters on the handle. Still anoth- 
er incident was that of a man whose horse having 
been shot under him was being sabered on the head 
by a mounted Confederate, but his head was so hard 
that the saber would not penetrate the skull. I think 
this was the case where the Colonel sabered the 
assailant. A few years ago I received a letter from 
this man, who was at the Soldiers' Home at Hamp- 
ton, Virginia. He lost the sight of one eye in the 
attack upon him and was then losing the sight of the 
other. 

After the battle of Suffolk we fell back about ten 
miles to the head of the Dismal Swamp and scouting 
on its border with nine horsemen on a trail by which 
it seemed the enemy might flank us, I suddenly dis- 
covered that we were in the midst of the swamp and 
our efforts to get out seemed to get us in deeper. At 
last one of our horses sank in a bog and we could not 
get him out so we left him there, which I much re- 
gretted a little later as it occurred to me we should 
have shot him to prevent his starving to death. Af- 
ter we left him I directed his rider to get down on 



108 SKCOND BATTLE OF SUFFOLK 

his hands and knees and pursue one of the numerous 
trails that ran beneath the matted underg-rowth and 
were often the tracks made by runaway slaves who 
had hidden in the swamp. We had no means of 
knowing- whether we were headed in or out of the 
swamp, which was a vast, apparently impenetrable 
mass of briars, vines and other undergrowth, as hig-h 
as our heads when we stood in our saddles; not a 
sound could be heard to indicate human activity out- 
side of our party, but, luckily, in about a half 
hour we emerg-ed from the sw^amp, our horses' breasts 
and front leg's torn and bleeding from the efforts to 
follow our gTaide in the path he was trailing-. In a 
short time after we g'ot out we reached our compan}^ 
marching" along- the hig-hway and in its rear was the 
horse we had left in the swamp, without either saddle 
or bridle. He had released himself from the bog- and 
evidently took the back track which we did not have 
the g-ood sense to understand was the safe and sure 
way out. 



CHAPTER X. 

RAID INTO XOKTH CAROLINA. 

Not long- after the battle of Suffolk our regiment 
was ordered to make a rapid march into northern 
North Carolina to perform an important service, the 
secret of which was confined to the Colonel. We 
started out early in the day and by nig-ht fall we were 
well down in the Currytuck Country, in North Caro- 
lina. We marched rapidly all day, and the nig-ht 
following-, after stopping- for a short time in the even- 
ing" to feed our horses and g-ive them a little rest. 
That country was threaded all over with little streams 
and the culverts throug-h which they crossed the 
hig-hways were numerous and usually covered with 
rails thrown across them without being- nailed or oth- 
erwise fastened down. The leading- companies of the 
reg-iment usually crossed these culverts carefully and 
as they kept up the reg-ular marching- time after they 
were over those following- had to break into the g-allop 
after crossing- to catch up with the consequence that 
the men soon dropped into the habit of spurring- their 
horses when their hind feet were about to leave a cul- 
vert and the starting^ of the animal to increase his 
speed sent a rail flying- from his heels. This method 
of procedure soon left the following- troopers to leap 
their horses across the culverts with varying- success 
in the darkness. Another feature of the march was 



110 RAID INTO NORTH CAROLINA 

the way the men's caps were brushed off by the over- 
hang-ing- branches of the trees which lined the road- 
sides, before they learned the necessity of loosing" the 
strap over the visor and placing it below the chin to 
keep the cap in place when collisions occurred. 

The next morning- the marching column was a 
sight. The horses and the men were covered with a 
heavy coating of dust, and those who had lost their 
caps on the nig-ht march, and they were numerous, 
wore nose bags on their heads. A nose bag was a 
white canvas bag- about the size of a tire brigade 
bucket with a russet leather bottom. If the command 
had been summoned to take part in a calathumpian 
exhibition they were well made up for that service. 
Late on the afternoon of the second day out we re- 
turned to our lines after marching, it was said, more 
than one hundred miles. We heard rumors of a body 
of the enemy we were to strike on the line of our 
march and that they g-ot out of our way and let us g"o 
around them without a struggle. However that may 
be it was an unusually exhausting- raid to both men 
and horses and I have always believed that its pur- 
pose, although never developed, was highly import- 
ant in character. Perhaps it was intended to give 
us a chance to get even on our Suffolk fight. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THREATENED MUTINY. 

A few weeks after the Suffolk affair I w^as sta- 
tioned with my company on the hig-hwaj leading- from 
Portsmouth to that town and assig-ned to patrol duty, 
to keep a lookout for the enemy. One Sunday morn- 
ing- two of the men quarreled about something- near 
the quarters and were using loud and hot words 
towards each other. I stepped out to learn the cause 
of the trouble and one of the parties, a larg-e man 
named Worrel, charged the other man with turning 
his horse out so that he rolled in the garden and was 
covered with mud, the men generally took good care 
of their horses, were affectionate toward them and 
proud of them. I asked Worrel how he knew the man 
accused turned his horse out and he answered by ask- 
ing- me a question. I replied, "don't ask me a ques- 
tion but answer the one I have asked you." "But I 
will ask you a question Cap'n," he said, and I ordered 
him arrested by a sergeant and two men and he arm- 
ed himself for a fight and said no d — d nig-ger could 
arrest him. I drew my revolver on him and directed 
him to disarm and surrender to the serg-eant and file 
of soldiers who stood ready to take him into custody, 
which he started to do bj' laying aside his carbine, 
but in an instant when I was looking away from him 
he sprang upon me g-rasping- me around the arms and 
body. I stooped over to point the revolver to the 
floor and hold it tightly between my knees that he 
might not discharg-e it into me. No sooner had he 
pounced upon me than a corporal coming hurriedly 
down the stairway seized a loaded carbine, put the 
muzzle of it to his side and pulled the trig-ger, but 
its failure to discharge saved his life, and the ser- 
geant, following- the example of the corporal, pulled 



112 THREATENED MUTINY 

out his revolver and twice tried to shoot him. By 
this time I had v/ormed myself loose from him and 
prepared to g'ive him a punishment he would not 
soon forg-et. The reason why the carbine missed lire 
was a mystery but the revolvers were recently issued 
and the oil in the tubes on which the caps were plac- 
ed prevented the explosion of the cap from igniting- 
and exploding- the cartridge in the barrel of the fire- 
arm. The incident tended to show the intense loj'd.\- 
ty of the colored soldier to his wliite commander. 
The punishment for Worrel's assault was death but 
that was altogether too severe, besides it would be a 
punishment of his famil}' who needed his support. I 
therefore g-ave him a physical punishment that did 
him no injury, but did him lasting- good. I wanted 
to let him g-o but I could not without losing- the nec- 
essary control of the men to make g-ood soldiers of 
them. They were unlike white men. A master spir- 
it had ruled them from infancy like children. A mu- 
tiny was started among- the men by this time. There 
were seventy live or eig-hty of thera to two of us white 
men and they were all slaves less than a year before, 
and were armed to the teeth, besides there were no 
other troops within ten miles of us. I ordered all of 
the men, except Worrel, into line unarmed and the or- 
der was promptly obeyed. I then picked out half of 
them and directed them to arm and equip themselves 
and report for duty at once; this they did and were 
posted as needed. I then caused the arrest of two 
leaders of the mutiny and put them to the same pun- 
ishment that Worrel was underg-oing- and order was 
restored. Worrel after this was one of the most trust- 
worthy and obedient men, but the other two who were 
punished were never lit for anything- but to be drum- 
med out of the service to the tune of the rog-ue's march 
and they deserted at the first opportunity. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PREPARING FOR CAMPAIGN BEFORE RICHMOND 
AND PETERSBURG. 

About the latter part of April the companies of 
the regiment were ordered into regimental camp from 
the stations they occupied for patrol and other pur- 
poses, near our old camp in the vicinity of Hampton, 
preparatory to a move on Richmond by the Army of 
the James, constituted of the Tenth Army Corps 
commanded by Major General Gilmore and the Eight- 
eenth Corps commanded by Major General W. F. 
(Baldy) Smith. As General Butler was the senior 
Major General and in command of the department he 
was quite naturally in the military order of things 
the superior officer of the other two generals named 
and all orders to them from the war department 
should go through him, but Secretary of War Stanton 
ignored this rule and communicated direct with the 
corps commanders. General Butler's headquarters 
were then at Fortress Monroe, which is located on 
Old Point Comfort. He at once wrote to the secretary 
calling his attention to his correspondence with Gen- 
erals Gilmore and Smith and asking to be informed 
"whether he was the commander in chief of the de- 
partment of Virginia and North Carolina or simply 
mayor of Old Point Comfort." 

We were not in camp at Hampton long before we 
received orders to go up the peninsula as far as Wil- 



114 PREPARING FOR CAMPAIGN 

liamsburg-. The Armj of the Potomac, under the eye 
of General Grant, was then about to enter the g-reat 
battle of the Wilderness in which and the series of 
battles immediately following- before he crossed the 
James river south of Richmond on his way to Peters- 
burg- to "fight it out on this line if it takes all sum- 
mer," he lost one hundred and nineteen thousand men 
in killed, wounded, missing and otherwise placed hors 
de combat, and as we were ordered to march in the di- 
rection of his field of operations it beg-an to look as 
though we would soon have plenty of hot work. We 
arrived at Williamsburg after a day's march and some 
of us, who had not enjoyed collegiate advantages, had 
a chance to go through William and Mary's college — 
on horse back — the roofs of the buildings had disap- 
peared in the ravages of war. Here too we found the 
oldest insane hospital in the United States, that 
General McClellan put physicians in charge of in his 
campaig-n two years before, and which was there- 
after cared for by the army authorities. 

When we arrived at Williamsburg- we were bri- 
gaded with the First United States Colored Cavalry 
commanded by Colonel Garrard and the brig-ade was 
commanded by Colonel Robert M. West of the First 
Pennsylvania Light Artillery, who succeeded the late 
General Charles T. Campbell of this town in com- 
mand of that regiment. We quartered in the log- 
houses built by McClellan's troops for a few days and 
then started north on a raid the purpose of which 
was a secret to all but the brisfade commander. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

AFFAIR ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 

We struck the enemy on the Chickahominy river 
at Jones Bridge twenty-five miles below Richmond, 
the second day out, where there was a bridge location 
but the bridge had been destroyed, and on the oppo- 
site side of the river were three redoubts occupied by 
Confederate troops, said to be Major Roger's Rich- 
mond Battalion. Colonel Garrard was ordered for- 
ward to attack with his regiment and howitzer bat- 
tery but his men, except about thirty of them, being 
armed with revolvers and sabers only, one of our com- 
panies was ordered forward to cover his advance as 
skirmishers which it did in splendid style. The men 
dismounted and deployed in a line five paces apart 
across Garrard's front, advanced firing until they 
came within one hundred and fifty to two hundred 
yards of the enemy and made it so hot for them as to 
largely stop their return fire. 

While this was going on Lieutenant Colonel Pond 
ordered my company to dismount and advance as skir- 
mishers to the river on Garrard's right and he went 
with us. Arriving on the bank of the river, which 
was at this point as well as the ground we had 
passed over to get there, covered with sufficient tim- 
ber to screen us from the enemy, we found no 
means to cross until a little later I discovered a 



116 AFFAIR ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 

large tree which had been felled across the river 
and used as a foot bridge by the eneni}^ and report- 
ed to Colonel Pond with a sug-gestion that we 
cross over and flank the enemy out of their redoubts 
which Garrard was fighting about a half miic on our 
left. He rejected the suggestion and with a dozen 
men from the right of the line I crossed over. We 
could see the enemy's camp and a number of horses 
through the timber about three hundred 3fards away 
and I instructed the men that I would give them the 
command: "Second battallion charge!" in a loud voice 
as though we were a regiment of a brigade and we 
would go for the camp on the double quick, they to 
keep up a rapid fire in that direction. This move 
worked all right. "We captured the camp and its 
equippage, and arms and horses enoug'h to arm and 
mount the men I had with me, and the enemy aban- 
doned the redoubts and fell back to the timber a half 
mile in the rear. I have no doubt they heard the 
command for I gave it as loudly as I could and this 
followed by the rapid firing led them to believe that 
they were flanked by a largely superior force. I 
learned later that our brigade commander had con- 
cluded that the enemy's position was impregnable at 
the time we went in and that the noise of the charge 
was made by the enemy in capturing us. 

We shortly after recrossed the river and rejoined 
our regiment. In doing so we galloped with our cap- 
tured horses past the First regiment with Garrard at 
its head and received three hearty cheers from his 
men "for the boys that routed the enemy." I was 
then even with Colonel Garrard for the snubbing- he 
gave rae when I applied for a commission as a sub- 
altern in his regiment about six months before. How- 
ever, I was then in good company. A few years be- 



AFFAIR ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 117 

fore the war, as the story runs, Abraham Lincoln as- 
sociated with Edwin M. Stanton, later his great war 
secretary, was eng-ag-ed in Cincinnati in the trial of a 
patent case before Judge McLean of the supreme 
court of the United States, the step father of Colonel 
Garrard, and the judg-e invited all the lawyers en- 
g-aged in the case, except Lincoln, to dine -with him. 
The affair at Jones' Bridg-e g-ot into the New York 
newspapers as something: worthy of special mention. 
As reported it was said that "Captain Bollard's com- 
pany under the gallant Lieutenant Colonel Pond" 
etc. etc., swelling- the story away beyond the facts; 
and in General Grant's report of the war it is men- 
tioned as follows: "The Colored Cavalry Brigade un- 
der Colonel Robert M. West forced the enemy's posi- 
tion at Jones' Bridge on the Chickahominy river." 
This reminds me that a distinguished writer. Swift, 
I think, says "Glory in war consists in one's getting 
killed in battle and having one's name spelled wrong 
in the list of casualties." 

From Jones' Bridge we fell back to Williamsburg 
but an order came at once to retrace our steps and 
join General Butler's army at Bermuda Hundred, on 
the James river, below Richmond. I was troubled 
with fever and ague in those days and was unfit to 
go into the saddle, but a little quinine and whiskey 
was considered an antidote for ague there then, as 
the latter is considered an antidote for rattlesnake 
bites out here in these days, so I resorted to a moder- 
ate use of this ague remedy which seemed to straight- 
en me out all right and about 3 o'clock in the morn- 
ing we started up the peninsula again. I rode a 
splendid horse which danced along the way for the 
first twelve miles in such spirit that I suffered the tor- 
tures of the d— d from the jolting. I was sick indeed, 



118 AFFAIR ON THE CHICKAHOMINY. 

and had I consulted my welfare rather than my ambi- 
tion I should have gone on the sick list and remained 
in camp instead of going- on this expedition, but when 
endurance and patience were about exhausted I spur- 
red my horse savagely and that led the Colonel, who 
was strongly opposed to the use of alcohol in any 
form as a beverage, to suspect that I was influenced 
by the antidote, and led to an unpleasant misunder- 
standing between us later in the campaign when re- 
ports reached his ears that we young officers were get- 
ting indiscreet on social occasions. I shall have occa- 
sion to refer to this later. On the first day's march 
we reached a point near Harrison's landing on the 
James river where McClellan's campaign of the spring 
and summer of 1862 was brought to a close, and re- 
mained there until the following evening. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

BEFORE PETERSBURG. 

From Harrison's Landing- 1 was ordered to report 
with my troop to the headquarters of General E. W. 
Hincks at City Point for duty. We arrived there 
about 9 o'clock the next morning and Captain Thom- 
as L. Livermore of his staff, ever since the war one 
of the most prominent and respected men of New 
Eng-land, informed me that the front of the position 
of General Hincks— he commanded the colored divis- 
ion then— was occasionally annoyed by the enemy's 
cavalry in small bodies and if I would move out and 
capture them it would be a feather in my cap. I was 
looking- for feathers in those days and we at once 
started out to bag the game. We penetrated the en- 
emy's country for some distance to the rear of where 
they usually appeared and working back to it found 
we had only "a water haul;" about a couple of hours 
later we repeated the move and came down upon them 
with all the speed of our horses, but they escaped us 
by a road of which we knew nothing, that let them 
out to the Appomattox river. 

General Hincks then advanced toward Petersburg 
with the purpose of attacking it— this was on the 9th 
day of May, 1864, eleven months to a day before 
Petersburg fell and General Lee surrendered to Gen- 
eral Grant at Appomattox— ray troop led the advance 



120 BEFORE PETERSBURG. 

and following" the road on which the enemy's cavalry 
squad had fled we soon came on a small body of troops 
in our uniform who challeng-ed us with "Who comes 
there?" and Lieutenant Peterson, who was in advance 
with two other men, answered "One of your d — d 
Yankee nig-g-er officers!" They g"ave us a volley and 
w^e g"alloped ag-ainst them to find the Appomattox riv- 
er below the bluff on which we met them, also the 
g-un boat to which they belong-ed as artillerymen. 
The mistake was mutual and neither was the worse 
for it, except the lieutenant had his cap damaged by 
a ball which cut its way throug-h it. We then moved 
up the road toward the enemy's pickets, and exchang^- 
ed shots with them and returned to take a more di- 
rect route toward the center of their intrenched posi- 
tion. My troop now acted as rear g-uard and in passing- 
the place where we had the affair with our own men I 
received a dispatch from their captain to General 
Hincks — the enemy had rushed a lig-ht battery down 
to a point on the opposite side of the river and sunk 
his gun boat about as soon as he was aware of their 
presence. 

When the head of General Hincks' column reach- 
ed the road between City Point and Petersburg- 
he turned toward the latter and a little later I 
found him near Cedar Level, where General Grant 
had his base of operations a little later in the cam- 
paig-n. I handed him the dispatch from the Captain 
of the g-unboat and asked him if I should g"0 with his 
column. He answered that I should and to the in- 
quiry as to where I should take my place he replied 
"In front, sir!" There was a scattering" fire g"oing" 
on at the front then as thoug-h our troops were feel- 
ing" of the enemy. I started my command toward the 
head of the column and as we trotted past the general 



BEFORE PETERSBURG 121 

and staff, Captain Livermore joined us. We then 
formed twos and fours at the gallop and made our 
way at that g-ait over the corduroy road through the 
Cedar Level swamp beyond which we were to meet 
the enemy. I have since learned that the commander 
of the regiment which was exchanging- shots with them 
reported he had met them in force. But however 
that may be as we emerged from the swamp we re- 
ceived a volley from the left and several troopers in 
our front galloped off into the w.oods toward their 
fort, on which later was mounted the big gun called 
the Petersburg Express, by which our people fired a 
shot into that city every five minutes of the subse- 
quent siege. Lieutenant Peterson with a small squad 
of men was ordered to look after the fellows who gave 
us the volley from the left and a corporal and three 
men sent on the trail after those who retreated in our 
front, while Captain Livermore and myself pushed 
on with the rest of the troop to the Petersburg stage 
road, perhaps a mile or so, to brush away any small 
parties of the enemy that might be on the Petersburg 
front, and make plain sailing for our infantry to form 
line of battle free from their annoyance. On our re- 
turn shortly after we found our command had been 
ordered to fall back and later I learned that an order 
was received as we were ready to go in with good 
prospects of success, by General Hincks from General 
Butler, not to attack Petersburg. The corporal and 
three men I have mentioned pursued the retreating 
enemy until the fort I have referred to opened with 
its battery and killed one of the horses that pinned 
its rider to the earth as it fell, and as the other two 
soldiers started to run away the corporal drew his re- 
volver on them and brought them back to release 
their comrade from his dead horse. When he had 



122 BEFORE PETERSBURG 

accomplished this he mounted the man behind him and 
rode back leisurelj^ with his companions. This man 
was named Pierce. He was as black as ink and as good 
and brave as he was black. He was an honor to his 
race and very similar to the type Mrs. Stowe had in 
mind when she wrote the story of Uncle Tom. The 
shackles of slavery had fallen from his limbs at the 
bidding- of the emancipation proclamation but little 
more than a year before this event, and in it the first 
g-un was fired from the Petersburg- works, while the 
last g-un, that marked a final period for the war, was 
fired on the 9th day of April, 1865, and settled the 
question of neg-ro slavery in this country for all time. 
A little later we made another advance on Peters- 
burg-. The cavalry division of General Kautz led 
the way and the command of General Hincks follow- 
ed. I came up with the g-eneral in the opening- near 
Cedar Level where we rushed the enemy in the other 
affair and asked him for orders. "Go to Judd's Hill!" 
was the response, and supposing- I would find the en- 
emy there I followed the trail of the cavalry division 
until it turned from the direct road to Petersburg- 
near rising- g-round in front. Here, I suspected, was 
Judd's Hill and we kept on our march until we reach- 
ed its crest where I thoug-ht it advisable to wait for 
the g-eneral and staff to come up, which they did in a 
few minutes and we then advanced, as I anticipated, 
to meet the enemy posted in the road around a curve 
a short distance ahead, where they had taken their 
position, no doubt, as the cavalry division ceased 
driving them backward turned from the Petersburg- 
stage road to the left to attack the works near Ceme- 
tery Hill which it carried later. Three times we at- 
tempted to charge the men confronting us in the 
highway without success. It seemed as though the 



BEFORE PETERSBURG 123 

men's horses could not stand the fire with which vv^e 
were met for each time we galloped forward they 
would wheel round and dash back madly to the cover 
of the bend in the road in response to a volley from 
the enemy. Thinking they were encouraged in this 
by their riders, I called for volunteers and one of the 
men responded "Cap'n dismount us and we'll all go 
wid you." He was the ugliest looking man in the 
company but he was a better strategist than I. How- 
ever, we were mounted and our duty there was to 
fight on horseback. Soon a line of our infantry ad- 
vanced and the opposition melted away. Not a horse 
or man in my company was injured in this affair al- 
though shots enough were fired to annihilate us. In 
the excitement the enemy fired too high— for them. 
We advanced to the outworks on this occasion but 
the movement amounted only to an armed recon- 
noisance. 

Shortly after this word came to Redoubt Converse 
at Spring Hill, on the Appomattox river, where I was 
stationed, that Petersburg was evacuated and I was 
ordered to move out the next morning to test the truth 
of the report. We started at 2 o'clock. Lieutenant 
Peterson and I and the troop, and made our way 
toward the enemy's lines by an old nearly blind road 
with which we had become acquainted while scouting 
between the lines. It was very dark and we were in 
danger of ambush. Daylight found us a quarter to a 
half a mile within the enemy's picket line without be- 
ing discovered, but we had to make quick work of it. 
We broke into the gallop and made our way to the 
place where we expected to cut the picket line and 
capture it and the reserves behind it. We came onto 
the reserves while they were still asleep but we gave 
them a free entertainment which cost one poor fellow 



124 BEFORE PETERSBURG 

among' them his life and another his liberty, but the 
picket line and the rest of the reserve escaped throug-h 
the timber lining* the river near b}^ The prisoner in- 
formed us that the post had two companies of infant- 
ry and a part of a company of cavalry. We fell back 
to our camp to report and g"et breakfast. We did not 
capture Petersburg-. It took General Grant with the 
combined armies of the James and Potomac about 
ten months in a later campaig-n to accomplish that 
very desirable object. 

While we were making- our way to the front on 
this occasion in the dense darkness, just before day- 
lig-ht, I kept ahead of my troop a little distance to 
look out for an ambush, and old Corporal Pierce, 
whom I have mentioned elsewhere, rode up to me and 
urg-ed that I g-o back to the company and let some of 
the men g-o ahead, saying-: "Cap'n you better let 
some of us boys g-o ahead; if we g-et killed it wont 
make any difference but if you g-et killed we all will 
be lost." 

We had not finished our breakfast after our re- 
turn before a cannon opened on our front about a 
half mile from our quarters and we were soon in the 
saddle. The prisoner we had captured told us there 
was a command of about six hundred Confederate 
cavalry a few hundred yards back of where we struck 
their pickets and it was this cavalry that had follow- 
ed us up with its battery. Captain White of General 
Hincks' staff had just come to inspect my troop when 
the enemy opened fire and we parted as he started for 
the trenches where our artillery was in operation and 
I crossed the line of fire with my command between 
the batteries on both sides. We marched at the walk 
to show the other fellows we could stand such work 
without excitement and took our place on the extreme 



BEFORE PETERSBURG 125 

left where there mig-ht be use for cavalry. The skir- 
mish lasted about an hour and the attacking- force 
retreated with the loss of several men. We had but 
one man wounded. At the close of the affair we re- 
turned to our stables where we were lined up as Cap- 
tain White came along-, before the smoke had cleared 
from the field, and I reported to him, "Captain my 
company is ready for inspection sir." "That is all 
rig-ht Captain I shall g^ive you a g-ood report sirl" 
And I think he did for the best friends I had in the 
army, aside from Colonel Cole, were at the headquar- 
ters of General Hincks. 

The attack made on us on this occasion must 
have whetted the appetite of the enemy for in a few 
days they came back with a larg-ely increased force 
of cavalry and infantry and several pieces of artil- 
lery. They posted some of the latter about a mile 
away directly in front of our batteries and others 
about a half a mile away on our left front under cov- 
er of a belt of timber. With the latter they had 
some cavalry and with the former both infantry and 
cavalry and they advanced a body of infantry toward 
our rig-ht front throug-h the timber skirting- the Ap- 
pomattox river on which our rig-ht and our line of 
earthworks rested. We advanced a reg-iment of in- 
fantry to meet this latter force and shelled the rest of 
it with our batteries, but we could not discover their 
exact location or the effect of our fire on them, so 
when the situation was ripe for such a move I trotted 
out to the front with my troop to feel of them and 
when on a line with those covered by the timber we 
g-alloped forward as forag-ers in open order far enoug-h 
to discover their exact location, and we found it, for 
they opened on us from front and flank and our bat- 
teries firing- over us answered them. We did not 



126 BEFORE PETERSBURG 

stand upon the order of our going- but went to the 
rear at once as fast as our horses would carry us, and 
our artillery pounded theni fiercely. An hour or two 
later I rode out beyond our skirmish line to see if 
they had withdrawn and stopping* under a tree to view 
the situation the bullets beg^an whistling- above my 
head among- the leaves and my horse, taking- the hint, 
ran back with the speed of a deer while the enemy 
paid their compliments to us with their small arms. 
The nig-ht following they retired. We subsequently 
learned that they were our old friends who gave us 
such a drubbing- at Suffolk. 

In this campaign before Petersburg while my old 
regiment, the Twenty-third Massachusetts, was bat- 
tling against a South Carolina regiment of the same 
number, and both commands were doing their best, 
the South Carolinians gave way so that our people 
advanced to the ground occupied by their dead and 
wounded; here an old comrade of mine, an officer in 
the Twenty-third Massachusetts, Frank M. Doble, 
noticing a badly wounded South Carolina officer ly- 
ing near him and attempting to attract his attention, 
went to where he lay, bent over him and heard in a 
whispered voice the word "water;" Doble kneeled 
down beside the wounded man lifted up his head, and 
put his own canteen to his lips, after he had satisfied 
his thirst he whispered "God bless you; take my 
revolver" and fell back dead. This turns the mem- 
ory back to the days when the United States govern- 
ment under the fugitive slave law, took Anthony 
Burns, a fugitive South Carolina slave, through the 
streets of Boston to return him to his master, the 
great riot in opposition and the talk later that Mas- 
sachusetts and South Carolina should fight out the 
issues of the war. 



BEFORE PETERSBURG. 127 

On the morning- of June 15th we were joined by 
the Eighteenth Corps under General W, F. (Baldy) 
Smith from General Grant's armj- at Cold Harbor. 
It had left us to g-o to him there and eng-ag-e in the 
battle of that name. Our division commanded by 
General Charles J. Paine joined this corps and "we 
all" marched on Petersburg-. While passing one of 
the colored infantry reg-iments of General Paine's 
division that my company had served with, one of 
the men called out "Hello dere comes our cal'ry! 
When vou see dat Cap'n pull his hat down dere's suf- 
■fin gwirie to be done but ef he don't touch his hat you 
needn't be skeered he aint gwine to hurt you."''' I sup- 
pose the observation was made because I, like others 
in the mounted service, was in the habit of pulling 
at the rim of my hat to secure it on my head when 
we broke into a brisker gait. 

We commenced the battle of Petersburg at the 
swamp at Cedar Level through which we galloped 
on the evening of the 9th of Ma}' to brush the out- 
posts of the Confederates away and they must have 
learned a lesson by that experience, for they were 
better prepared to receive us now. They had a strong 
battery posted in the clearing on their side of the 
swamp and compelled a vigorous light in line of bat- 
tle to force them back, after which we pushed on and 
confronted their intrenchments. The battle lasted 
all day, substantially, and when night closed in we 
captured their entire position with the artillery that 
had defended it, including that in the battery into 
which my old corporal ran on a former occasion. 
Much criticism has been indulged in since because 
General Smith did not advance and capture the city 
that night and something has been said of the intense 
darkness. I remember distinctly that it was very 



128 BEFORE PETERSBURG. 

dark when nig-ht closed in, but shortly after we g^ot 
into the enemy's works the moon rose bright and 
beautiful. That night I camped with my troop in- 
side of the intrenchments where the Petersburg* stage 
road entered the enemy's works, and it was said the 
next morning- that after v/e had captured this part of 
the line a load of ammunition came out from Peters- 
burg- and when challeng-ed by our pickets the driver 
replied "A load of ammunition for Battery Number 
Nine." During- the nig-ht the Second corps, General 
Hancock's famous copimand, came up and took posi- 
tion on the left of our army that had foug-ht the bat- 
tle of the day before and a little after daylight a 
battery of the enemy opened a rapid and well direct- 
ed fire on our part of the line and commenced the 
death g-rapple that continued thereafter between the 
army of the Potomac and the army of the James on 
the one side and the army of Northern Virginia un- 
der General Lee and General Beaureg-ard's army on 
the other, until the end came at Appomattox on the 
9th of April thereafter. It was a strug-g-le in the 
last ditch for the life of the Confederacy. 

With the coming- of the army of the Potomac all 
available troops were put into the trenches and un- 
necessarily mounted troops were dismounted for this 
purpose. Under this policy we had to g-ive up the 
horses of our enlisted men and stand ready to take our 
place in the trenches. My company was sent back to 
our reg-iment and one nig-ht I was ordered to take one 
hundred and fifty men to the front along- the Appo- 
mattox to construct an earthwork. The detail was 
made up from our regiment and the First United States 
Colored Cavalry, the detachment from the latter being- 
under the command of Lieutenant Cass. When we 
reached the place where the work was to be done the 



BEFORE PETERSBURG 129 

men armed with their firearms and supplied with 
picks and shovels were strung- along- the line of the 
work. It was about midnig-ht, the enemy were on 
the opposite side of the river within easy sharp shoot- 
ing- distance. Our men would have no cover when 
daylight came except such as they should furnish 
with their picks and shovels before then, and Cass, 
as disg-usted as myself with our dismounted condi- 
tion, called out to them, "Now dig-, d — n you, dig- or 
die," and that was their position in a nut shell. It 
g-oes without saying that they did not die for the 
want of industry. ' 

The summer dragged along wearily in the most 
humdrum way. 



CHAPTER XV. 

DOING BUSINESS WITH GENERAI, BUTLER. 

About the middle of August I received an invi- 
tation to call on General Butler at his headquarters 
to answer charg-es which the Colonel had preferred 
ag-ainst me. I reported promptly but he took no no- 
tice of me at first, later he turned on me like a mad 
man and this is what occurred. "You are Captain 
Dollard are you sir?" "I am sir!" "I have some 
charg-es ag-ainst you sir!" "I am aware of that fact 
sir!" "You mig-ht as well plead g^uilty sir!" All this 
time his jaws were snapping- like those of a tig-er and 
at a motion from him out jumped an orderly with a 
box of cigars, one of which he munched voraciously 
while the interview continued. I had heard of his 
tricks of intimidation and had come prepared for the 
reception. He had the power to kick me out of the 
service unceremoniously but not to intimidate me. I 
was accustomed to meeting- more dang-erous men. 
After he had read the charges and I did not take his 
advice and plead guilty he seemed to be in a towering 
rage which I answered by saying "General if I am 
g-uilty of those charges I deserve the extreme punish- 
ment of the law." "Yes," he replied, "and if you 
are gfuilty of these charges you shall receive the ex- 
treme punishment of the law and such punishment as 
I see fit to add for prevarication to the commanding 



DOING BUSINESS WITH GENERAL BUTLER 131 

g-eneral. On the other hand if you are not g-uilty 
your witnesses shall be punished." I have since re- 
gretted that I did not say "I beg- your pardon Gener- 
al but you mean my accuser." The g-eneral had up- 
set himself instead of me. In military procedures of 
this kind they sometimes worked like a boomerang-. 
If they did not succeed the accuser g-ot a scoring-. I 
went to Fortress Monroe, stood my trial and was ex- 
onerated. Colonel Cole was present and when ask- 
ed by the judg-e advocate, Major Stackpole, as to 
whether I desired to have him asked any questions as 
to my character as a soldier, I told him to use his 
own judg-ment and to the question the Colonel re- 
plied, "Captain DoUard is one of the ablest officers in 
the camp and one of the bravest officers in the field I 
ever had the pleasure of associating- with." This I 
thoug-ht was overdoing it and g-iving- me a measure 
of credit I did not altogether deserve, but it served to 
show the high character of the witness. He was in- 
terested in the success of my prosecution for he was 
in line of promotion to Brevet Brigadier General, and 
was as much entitled to it as some who received Gen- 
eral Butler's endorsement after our next battle, but 
if the prosecution failed he might expect nothing but 
censure at the hands of General Butler; although as 
a matter of fact the latter simply passed on my ex- 
oneration by saying: "The proceedings in the case 
of Captain Robert Bollard are hereby approved. 
Captain Bollard will resume his sword." I had al- 
ready resumed my sword and fallen in battle before I 
received the order. 



CHAPTER XVI . 

BATTLE OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS. 

On September 29th I was assigned to the com- 
mand of the advance of our reg-iment at New Market 
Heights. In this engagement, which on the entire 
line involved all of the Army of the James north of 
the James river, we held a position on the extreme 
right where we had been doing picket duty so close 
to the enemy that we were on speaking terms. We 
advanced at 3 o'clock in the morning and the battle 
opened. After about three hours' work we drove the 
enemy out of their rifle pits and back a mile or so to 
their main line, where their line of battle and battery 
in the trenches had full play upon us at four hundred 
yards distance in an open field; nothing but our open 
order prevented us from great slaughter. Regiments 
in close order immediately on our left lost sixty per 
cent of their men. Orders came from the rear about 
this time to lie down and the men dropped, but Lieu- 
tenant Jones, who was associated with me in the com- 
mand, and myself remained standing, he, I suppose, 
because he wanted to be the last man to drop and I 
because I thought it my duty as the commander of 
the men to set them an example of indifference to 
danger, but neither of us remained standing very 



BATTLE OF NEW MAKKET HEIGHTS 133 

lon'r. Jones dropped and I followed, but I was shot 
throug-h the head before I reached the g-round. I 
lost my speech and eye sight and was helpless. I 
was conscious and knew when my line fell back and 
left me. The position was not an ag-reeable one as I 
lay between the contending lines of battle the bullets 
of both sides whistling- above me, the solid shot 
shrieking- as they rent the air and the shells bursting- 
around me. I think it is the historian Gibbon, or 
Macaulay, who says this is the most painful position 
one can occupy in battle. However, within a few 
minutes my eyesight and speech returned, I was dis- 
covered by Lieutenant Jones who with four of the 
men came back and carried me off the field. I thought 
I had been struck in the head with the fragment of a 
shell and that my right arm was shattered. After 
we arrived at the hospital the doctor said I was 
struck by a minnie ball and my right arm was par- 
alyzed by the shot which struck me on the left side 
of "the top of my head. I was able to get up and to 
walk with a little assistance after a few hours,^ and 
in going to the rear I met Colonel Speer of the Elev- 
enth Pennsylvania Cavalry, an old time associate of 
our General Charles T. Campbell, whom I have men- 
tioned, at the head of a cavalry brigade and he very 
kindly ordered one of his surgeons to have me taken 
to the rear in an ambulance. That afternoon about 
seven hundred of us who were wounded were put on 
a steamer and sent down the river to the Hampton 
Hospital. Poor Jones went through the war without 
a scratch but was killed and scalped on the trail be- 
tween Sidney and the Black Hills when the gold ex- 
citement was highest in the Hills country. 

The following is an extract from the order of 
General Butler after the battle I have mentioned: 



134 BATTLK OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS 

Head Quarters 

Department of Virginia and North Carolina, 

Army of the James. 

Before Richmond, Oct. llth, 1864, 
Soi^DiERS OF THE Army of the James: 

The time has come when it is due to you that some word 
should be said of your deeds. 

In accordance with the plan committed to j'ou by the 
lieutenant general commanding' the armies, for the first time 
in the war, fully taking advantage of our facilities of steam 
marine transportation, you performed a march without par- 
allel in the history of war. 

At sunset of the 4tli of May you were threatening the en- 
emy's capital from West Point and the White House, within 
thirty miles on its eastern side. 

Within twenty-four hours, at sunset on the 5th of May, 
by a march of one hundred and thirty miles, you transported 
thirty five thousand men — their luggage, supplies, horses, 
wagons and artillery — within fifteen miles 'of the south side 
of Richmond with such celerity and secrecy that the enemy 
was wholly unprepared for your coming, and allowed you 
without opposition to seize the strongest natural position on 
the continent. A victory all the more valuable because 
bloodless! 

Seizing the enemy's communications between their cap- 
ital and the south you held them till the 26th of May. 

Meanwhile your cavalry, under General Augustus V. 
Kautz cut the Weldon road below Petersburg twice over and 
destroyed a portion of the Danville railroad; while the col- 
ored cavalry under Colonel Robert M. West, joined you by a 
march from Williamsburg across the Chickahominy to Har- 
rison's L«anding. 

From the 12th to the 16th of May you moved on the ene- 
my's works around Fort Darling, holding him in check while 
your cavalry cut the Danville road, capturing his first line of 
works, repulsing with great slaughter his attack which was 
intended for your destruction. 

Retiring at leisure to your position, j'ou fortified it, re- 
pulsing three several attacks of the enemy until j'ou have 
made it strong enough to hold itself. 

Fortifying City Point, Fort Powhattan, Wilson's Wharf, 



BATTLE OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS 135 

(Fort Pocahontas,) 3'ou secured 3"our communications, and 
have practicalh' moved Fortress Monroe as a base within 
fifteen miles of the rebel capital, there to remain till that trav- 
els. Re-embarking' after you had secured your position, with 
nearly your wliole effective strength under Major General 
William F. Smith, you ag-ain appeared at White House with- 
in forty-eight hours after you received the order to march, 
participating at the memorable battle of Cold Harbor with 
the army of the Potomac, where the number and character of 
your gallant dead attest your braver^' and conduct. 

Again returning in advance of that army on the 15th of 
June, under General Smith the Eighteenth Corps captured the 
rig'ht of the line of defenses around Petersburg and nine 
pieces of artillery, which lines you have since held for three 
months. On the 16th of June a portion of the Tenth Corps, 
under Brigadier General Alfred H. Terry again threw itself 
upon the enemy's communications between Richmond and 
Petersburg and destroyed miles of the road holding it cut 
for da3's. 

The Tenth Corps, on the 14th day of August, passing the 
James at Deep Bottom under Major General David B. Birne}-, 
by a series of brilliant charges carried the enemy's works 
near New Market and two days later another line of works at 
Fussell's Mills, defended by the best troops of L«ee's army, 
bringing back four guns and three battle flags as trophies 
of their valor. 

Again crossing the James on the 29th of September with 
both corps, with celeritj', precision, secrecA' and promptness 
of movement seldom equaled, with both corps in perfect co- 
operation, you assaulted and carried at the same moment, — 
the Tenth Corps and the third division of the Eighteenth 
Corps under General Birney — the enemy's strong works with 
double lines of abattis at Spring Hill, near New Market, 
while the remaining divisions of the Eighteenth Corps under 
Major General Edward O. C. Ord, carried by assault Battery 
Harrison, capturing twenty-two pieces of heavy ordnance 
— the strongest of the enemy's works around Richmond. 

The army thus possessed itself of the outer line of the 
enemy's works and advanced to the very gates of Richmond. 
So vital was your success at Battery Harrison that on the 1st 
of October, under the eye of General L<ee himself, massing 
his best troops, the enemy made most determined assaults 



136 BATTLE OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS 

upon your lines to retake it and were driven back with a loss 
of seven battle flag's and the almost annihilation of a brigade 
— Clingman's. After a week's preparation massing- all his 
veteran troops on his left flank, on the 7th of October the 
enemy drove in the cavalry with a loss of some pieces of 
horse artillery, but meeting the steady troops of the Tenth 
Corps were repulsed with slaughter losing three commanders 
of brigades killed and wounded and many field and line offi- 
cers and men killed, wounded and prisoners. 

Such is the glorious record of the Army of the James — 
never beaten in a battle, never repulsed in an assault by a 
larger portion of its forces than a brigade. 

All these triumphs have not been achieved without many 
loved and honored dead. 

Why should we mourn their departure? Their names 
have passed into history emblazoned on the proud role of 
their country's patriot heroes. Yet we drop a fresh tear for 
the gallant General H. P. Burnham, a devoted soldier leading 
his brigade to the ci-est of Battel'}' Harrison where he fell 
amid the cheers of tVie victorious charge. In his memory Bat- 
tery Harrison will be officially designated Fort Burnham. 

Of the colored soldiers of the third division of the Eight- 
eenth and Tenth Corps and the officers who led them the 
general commanding desires to make special mention. In 
the charge on the enemy's works by the Colored Division of 
the Eighteenth Corps at Spring Hill, New Market, better 
men were never better led. Better officers never led better 
men. With hardly an exception, officers of colored troops 
have justified the care with which they have been selected. 
A few more such gallant charges and to command colored 
troops will be the post of honor in the American Army. The 
colored soldiers by coolness, steadin'ess and determined cour- 
age and dash have silenced every cavil of the doubters of 
their soldierly capacity and drawn tokens of admiration from 
their enemies — have brought their late masters even to the 
consideration of the question whether they will not emploj' 
as soldiers the hitherto despised race. Be it so — this war is 
ended when a musket is in the hands of every able bodied 
negro who wishes to use one. 

In the present movement where all have deserved so well 
It is almost invidious to name, yet justice requires special 



BATTLE OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS 137 

g-allant acts noticed. Major Generals Ord and Birney receive 
the thanks of the Commanding- General for the prompt celer- 
it3- of the movement of their corps, both in time and manner, 
thereby securing thorough co-operation, although moving 
over different lines Their active promptness can not be too 
much commended as an example in other operations. To be 
able to move troops in exact time is a quality as scarce as it 
is valuable. General Old received a severe wound while di- 
recting the occupation of the captured redoubt. 

Brigadier General Stannard is particularly distinguished 
for his gallantry in leading his division in the assault until he 
lost his arm. The Commanding General takes pleasure in 
recommending General Stannard to promotion for merito- 
rious services. 

Then folloYv's a long- list of names of of&cers and 
men in the first and second divisions of the Eight- 
eenth corps and the Eng^ineer corps specially com- 
mended for their services in that battle. Of the 
Third — our division — he says: 

Brigadier General Charles J. Paine has received the 
thanks of Major General Birney for the conduct of his divis- 
ion while temporarily acting with the Tenth corps in the ac- 
tion of the 29th of September near New Market. 

Colonel S. A. Duncan, Fourth U. S. Colored Troops, com- 
manding Third Brigade, in addition to other gallant services 
in the field heretofore, fell wounded near the enemy's works. 
He is recommended to the President for a Brevet rank as 
Brigadier General. 

Colonel A. G. Draper, Thirty-sixth U. S. Colored Troops, 
commanding Second Brigade, carried his brigade in column of 
assault with fixed bayonets over the enemy's works through 
a double line of abattis, after severe resistance. For inces- 
sant attention to duty and gallantry in action. Colonel Dra- 
per is also recommended to brevet rank as Brigadier General. 
Ivieutenant Colonel G. W. ShirtlifF, Fifth U. S. Colored 
Troops, gallantly led his regiment in the assault of the 
twenty-ninth, although at the commencement of the charge 
he was shot through the wrist and again wounded until he 
received a third and probably mortal wound close to the ene- 
my's works. He has nobly earned his promotion and his 



138 BATTLE OF NEW MARKET HEIGHTS. 

commission as Colonel of his regiment to date from the 29th 
of September, subject to the approval of the president. ^ 
* ••" * ■•'• * Major J. B. Cook, Twenty-second U. 
S. Colored Troops, commanding- his regiment at the skirmish 
line, behaved most gallantly himself and managed his meii 
with marked ability in the assault on the enem3''s line near 
New Market. In the attempt of the enemy to take Fort Har- 
rison, he unfortunately fell wounded through his utter neg- 
lect of personal safety. He is promoted to Lieutenant Col- 
onel. 

Captain Robert Dollard, Second U. S. Colored Cavalry, 
acting as field officer and in charge of the skirmish line in 
the assault on New Market, September 29th, inspired his 
command by his great personal bravery, coolness and ability' 
until he fell severely wounded near the enemy's main line. 
He is promoted to Major. 

First lyieutenant Henr3' Peterson, Second U. S. Colored 
Cavalrj', is promoted to a Captaincy for gallantry and ability 
in condvicting his company at New Market on the 29th of 
September, and for meritorious conduct in field and camp. 

Here follows a long- list of names of officers and 
soldiers commended for their courag-e and service. 

The Commanding General is quite conscious that in his 
endeavors to put on record the gallant deeds of the officers 
and soldiers of the Army of the James he has, almost of ne- 
cessity, because of the imperfection of reports, omitted man3' 
deserving of mention; yet, as these gallant men will on other 
occasions equally distinguish themselves, they can then take 
their due place in their country's history. 

By Command of Major General Butler, 

Ed. W. Smith. 
Assistant Adjutant General. 




MAJ. IvOllKKT DOLI.AKI). 



CHAPTER XVII. 

GENERAL BUTLER. RETURN TO ACTIVE SERVICE. 

During- our service with General Butler many 
stories were told of him. On one occasion a young- 
lieutenant came to his tent and found him sitting in 
his larg-e arm chair made of weather beaten lumber. 
He asked the g-eneral: "Can you tell me where the 
mustering officer's tent is sir?" The general, point- 
ing over his shoulder with his thumb, said: "It is 
over there." A little later the lieutenant returned 
and hailed him with: "Say! I wish you would show 
me where that mustering- officer's tent is sir." Butler 
g-ot up, stepped out of the tent and pointing to that 
of the mustering officer replied, "There's the mus- 
tering tent sir. Now are you aware of where you 
are?" "Yes, I am at General Butler's headquarters." 
"Yes, these are General Butler's headquarters, and 
hereafter you'll not mistake the throne of grace for 
an intelligence office." On another occasion an offi- 
cer who was court martialed for drunkenness on duty 
was found guilty of being- as drunk as a beast. In 
passing upon this the general said "This is evidently 
a mistake as beasts do not get drunk." The general 
was pushing the Dutch Gap Canal through a neck of 
land in the James river to cut off six or seven miles 
and avoid a battery in c ase of a naval advance on 
Richmond, which he expected to have completed be- 



140 GENERAI. BUTLER. 

fore the close of that year, and a certain court mar- 
tial during- the summer, long- before the close of the 
year, condemned several soldiers to work in the g-ap 
for a term of years. What the g-eneral said to this 
-when asked to approve the proceeding- has never g-one 
the rounds. He probably did full justice to it. 

After I became convalescent from my -^vound I 
-was detailed for g-eneral court martial service for the 
Army of the James at Carroll Hall, Fortress Monroe, 
-where I had my previous experience, and became the 
senior member of the court aside from its president* 
A leave of absence folio-wed and I -went back to my 
home in Massachusetts after an absence of more than 
three years in active service. About Christmas I re- 
turned to my reg-iment in the field before Richmond, 
and being- the senior officer present assumed com- 
mand of it vv^hich I continued until the close of the 
-war and later. 

After the battle at Ne-w Market Heights an Irish- 
man named Callahan, who had disting-uished himself 
by his courag-e, came to us as a lieutenant on the or- 
der of General Butler. Callahan borrowed a horse 
and equipments shortly after he joined us and beg-an 
the time of his life calling- on his old friends where 
the commissary flowed freely. One morning he said 
to his captain's cook, an enlisted man: "George, the 
captain is in command of the regiment and he put me 
in command of the company. If I'm in command of 
the company tomorrow morning I'll have me break- 
fast at 8 o'clock and I'll have beef steak, do you 
mind." "Yes lieutenant, but where'll I get the beef 
steak?" "D— 1, d— n do I knov/, you'll get the beef 
steak or I'll put you to duty in the ranks, and be 
d — d to yes." Callahan lived high for a short time 
but he was never commissioned. General Butler con- 



RETURN TO ACTIVE SERVICE 141 

eluded he could serve his country best in his old place 
as serg-eant. 

We were frequently entertained during" the latter 
part of the winter of 1864-5 by the batteries on the 
opposite side of the James river and their g-un boats 
which threw shot and shell into our camps, but aside 
from this there w^as little activity. Toward the close 
of the winter our reg-iment was ordered to Norfolk, 
Virg-inia, to occupy its defensive line and there we 
remained until the war closed. During this time 
Colonel Cole made the following- recommendation to 
the g-eneral commanding- the Army of the James: 

Head Quarters Second U. S. Coi^ored Cavalry. 
Captain Sealy, A. A. G. 
Captain: — 

III compliance with circular 49, War Depart- 
ment I have the honor to recommend (by requesting- examina- 
tion) Major Robert Dollard, Second U. S. Colored Cavalry for 
L/ieutenant Colonel Second U. S. Colored Cavalry, in place of 
Lieutenant Colonel Pond (if mustered out on disability as 
applied for); also I would recommend Captain A. G. Law- 
rence, Second U. S. Colored Cavalry, to be promoted to Ma- 
jor in place of Major Dollard (if he is made Lieutenant Col- 
onel Second U. S. Colored Cavalry) for conspicuous gallantry 
at Fort Fisher, he at the charge having lost an arm and be- 
ing otherwise severelj' wounded, being the first man to raise 
our colors. (Vide Brigadier General Ames' Report.) 
With sincere respect, yours &c., 

Geo. W. COI.E, 

Col. 2nd U. S. C. C. 

This recommendation was approved by General 
Graham but was returned by General Gordon his im- 
mediate superior, a West Pointer, with the endorse- 
ment that "when official information is received that 
Lieutenant Colonel Pond has been mustered out this 



144 RECEPTION TO ADMIRAL FARRAGUT 

a position on the stag-e, while the actresses connected 
with the theatre, dressed in sailors' uniform, waved 
the flag- above his head he had done so much to 
honor, as the female voices sang" and the orchestra 
played the Star Spang'led Banner. 

Lieutenant Colonel Mann, of the Thirty-ninth Il- 
linois, who was on crutches at the time, from a wound 
received not long before in front of Richmond, was 
prominent in the management of the affair. Colonel 
Mann will be remembered by his old comrades in this 
state as a gallant soldier, and by the people in the 
northern part of the state as one of the founders of 
the Gettysburg settlement. He was the sole delegate 
from Potter county to the Huron constitutional con- 
vention which assembled on June 19th, 1883, at that 
place. At the close of the reception we all had an 
opportunity, in passing out of the theater, to shake 
hands with the Admiral and I do not think an as- 
semblage ever went throug-h that kind of an experience 
where the hand and heart was more in harmony than 
on this occasion. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 



During- the administration of President Monroe 
there was a move on the part of some of the European 
nations to aid Spain in subjecting- Mexico, Central 
and South America to her authority, and the presi- 
dent communicating- with the powers that contem- 
plated the move made knovv^n the fact to them that 
the United States would regard such interference as 
unfriendly to its government. The view of our g"Ov- 
ernment was that the people of America should work 
out their own state problems free from the interfer- 
ence of Europe. The objection prevailed and it has 
ever since been known as the Monroe Doctrine. 

While the war of secession was g"oing" on and we 
had about all we could attend to without insisting- on 
the recog^nition of this doctrine, England, France and 
Spain invaded Mexico for the purpose of compelling- 
the payment of debts to their subjects and when the 
object of the invasion was accomplished England and 
Spain withdrew but France, under the leadership of 
"Napoleon the Little," as he was sometimes called, 
induced Maximillian, the brother of the present Em- 
peror of Austria, to assume the rulership of Mexico 
as its Emperor and he acted as the head of that na- 
tion, as far as the g-uns of his troops would reach, 
from the time of his establishment on the throne un- 
til after our civil war was ended and he was aban- 
doned by Louis Napoleon and betrayed into the 
hands of the enemy by his troops. Immediately af- 



146 THE MONROE DOCTRINE 

ter the close of hostilities the attention of our Gov- 
ernment was g-iven to the Mexican situation and 
troops in large numbers were ordered into western 
Texas as an armj of occupation, whether to drive 
Maximillian out of Mexico, if the moral effect of their 
presence in Texas did not have that effect, was never 
known, to the public at least. 

One of the armies destined for this service was 
the Twentj-fifth Army Corps consisting- of about 
twenty thousand infantry, colored troops, commanded 
by Major General Godfrey Weitzel, and the colored 
cavalry brig-ade commanded by Brevet Brig-adier Gen- 
eral Georg-e W. Cole the regiments of which were the 
First United States Colored Cavalry commanded by 
Colonel Jeptha Garrard, the Fifth Massachusetts Cav- 
alry, colored, commanded by Colonel Charles Frances 
Adams and the Second United States Colored Cavalry 
commanded by myself. These troops were being or- 
ganized into brigades, divisions and a corps near City 
Point, Virginia, about the time of the g-reat review 
in Washington of the Army of the Potomac, the Army 
of the James and Sherman's army. Colonel Adams 
was a g-reat grandson of one president of the United 
States, the grandson of another and his father was 
minister to England during our civil war period and 
it used to be said in those days that the greatness of 
his ancestral line would completely eclipse his future, 
but, while he has not distinguished himself in the 
field of politics after the manner of his ancestors, in 
the business world and as a broad minded high class 
citizen his life has been a credit to the family name. 
The corps and brigade referred to were industriously 
drilled and brought up to a high standard of both 
drill and discipline preparatory to their transfer to 
the field of operations in Texas. 



CHAPTER XX. 



OFF FOR TEXAS. 



About the middle of June, 1865, under orders to 
g-o on board the ocean steamer H. S. Hag-er lying- in 
Hampton Roads I embarked at City Point, with ten 
companies of my regfiment, which now contained 
twelve companies, on river steamboats in the depart- 
ment quartermaster's service. When we arrived oif 
Fortress Monroe we learned that the H. S. Hager 
was at Portsmouth taking- in coal and, as before stat- 
ed, the boats we were in being- in charg^e of the quar- 
termaster's department, proceeded to Portsmouth 
with us where we landed on the dock at which the 
Hag-er was coaling- — when a vessel makes a sea voy- 
ag-e loaded with troops the commander of them is the 
commander of the vessel for all purposes except its 
sailing- operations; for these the ship's captain re- 
tains his command. 

At Norfolk on the opposite side of the river from 
Portsmouth the commissioned officers were paid but 
the enlisted men were not. This created some dissat- 
isfaction which was added to by reports that a live 
years flag- to keep the men in service for that period 
would be raised when we g-ot out to sea and they 
would be taken south to raise cotton to pay the na- 
tional debt. I had placed a g-uard around the loca- 
tion of the soldiers to prevent strag-g-ling- and man- 



148 OFF FOR TEXAS 

aged to keep them in g-ood order until the middle of 
the afternoon of our arrival but when I attempted to 
march them on board the vessel they mutinied, break- 
ing- out in yells of defiance and secretly discharg-ing- 
their fire arms. There were seven hundred and six- 
ty-seven of them armed with carbines and they had 
twenty rounds of ammunition to the man, while I had 
but thirteen v/hite officers to control them. I sent 
for the first serg-eants of each of the companies and 
learned from them the stories about the five years 
flag and being- taken south to raise cotton to pay the 
national debt and I told them to return to their com- 
panies and tell the men these stories were false and I 
would pledg-e my life that the g-overnment would 
keep faith with them, not use them to raise cotton or 
keep them over the three years they had enlisted for, 
and that they might be discharged before their term 
of service expired. This brought about half the reg- 
iment on board the vessel for assignment to quarters. 
The men were all personally respectful to the of- 
ficers who went among them but the ties of discipline 
were otherwise broken. 

The following evening I called on General Gra- 
ham, who commanded at Portsmouth, and asked for 
assistance to quell the mutiny. He told me that 
Major Cunningham, the provost marshal, w^ho had 
one hundred and thirty men, would give me all the 
assistance I needed. I informed him that I did not 
think one hundred and thirty men could quell the 
mutiny, that there would be trouble if it was attempt- 
ed and that if he would send the Thirteenth New 
York Heavy Artillery and Captain Morton's battery 
of his command over there I thought we could man- 
age the situation. He turned to a staff officer and 
directed him to order Lieutenant Colonel Walsh with 



OFF FOR TEXAS 149 

the artillery reg"iraent named and a section of Cap- 
tain Morton's battery to come to our relief. 

The next morning" I was up at daylig"ht and met 
Colonel Howard of the Thirteenth, who asked me, 
"Are you the Major in command of these troops?" 
and I informed him that "I was in command of them 
sir." "Well," said he, "your first duty when g'oing- 
on board ship is to disarm your men." He ranked 
me or I should have told him I thoug-ht he was an 
ass. I did not want to be ordered to consider myself 
under arrest for conduct disrespectful to a superior — 
God save the mark. He made a speech to the men 
and ordered me to say something- to them which I did 
in the way of reasserting- my belief in the gfovern- 
ment's dealing- with them in g-ood faith. I had been 
an enlisted man and I knew the duty of obeying* or- 
ders and tried to live up to it and I confess that the 
argument I would then have preferred to see used 
ag-ainst the mutineers was that of the artillery with 
its discharg-e of canister. But I was young- and hot 
headed and the course we pursued was better. Col- 
onel Howard declared to the men as he left us that if 
they did not g-o on board he would soon be back with 
a long^ tail and shortly after that he marched his reg-- 
iment along- our front, unfixed bayonets and ordered 
his men to prime preparatory to firing-. At this the 
hundreds of my men who were on board the vessel 
ran down its g-ang-ways to the wharf with their 
arms and equipments and the situation seemed to be 
assuming- a serious aspect when the artillery came on 
the g-round. The situation was this. On the rear of my 
men, who were now all on the dock, was the Elizabeth 
river and the Hag-er which was tied up to the wharf; 
on the other side was the larg-e artillery reg-iment, 
on another side was the deep water way of the Nor- 



150 OFF FOR TEXAS 

folk and Portsmouth ferry, and on the other a canal 
crossed by a bridg^e commanded by a section of the 
battery. The argument was conclusive and the mu- 
tineers went on board the ship promptly without the 
firing- of a g"un. 

After they were all on board General Graham 
called me ashore to learn whether I could control 
them and I told him I thoug-ht I could. So we cut 
loose from the dock on his order and started down 
the stream. Several shots were fired from the for- 
ward part of our ship as we dropped down the river 
and two horses and a neg^ro woman were reported 
wounded. We anchored off Portress Monroe where 
we received our provisions for the trip to Brazos San- 
tiag-o, Texas, on the Gulf Coast, and put down our 
wind sails to give the troops fresh air below decks. 
After we had been off the fort a day or so and long 
enough for the men to cool off and repent their folly, 
I directed the commander of companies beginning 
with those best under control to move their compa- 
nies two at a time to the sides of the upper deck fac- 
ing inward. After the first two companies were thus 
placed I directed the arrest of any member of them 
whose carbine was found to be loaded, or who v^^-as 
known to be a leader in the mutiny, and directed 
them to expend all their ammunition by tossing it 
behind them into the sea. By this procedure, with 
the admonition that no man would be permitted on 
the upper deck armed during the voyage except 
with side arms when on guard duty, the ten compa- 
nies were tamed down and this was followed by seiz- 
ing a large amount of ammunition found stowed away 
in the men's quarters which they had stolen from our 
reserve supply of two hundred and fifty thousand 
rounds, which later I had stored beneath our cabin 



OFF FOR TEXAS 151 

vith a hint, overheard bj some of the troops, that if 
iny attempt should be made to take the ship when 
.ve were out to sea, as had been threatened, the am- 
nunition would come handy to blow her up. In the 
round up I had thirtj-one prisoners which I confined 
n the "coal hole" at the bottom of the vessel; this 
:ooled off the mutiny to the point of denial on the 
part of the men at liberty that they had had any 
:onnection with it. After we arrived at Brazos San- 
:iag-o, I turned the prisoners over to the proper 
authorities, ten or a dozen of them were court mar- 
tialed and received various sentences from confine- 
ment in prison for a term of years to death, but 
those condemned to death had their sentences com- 
nuted to life imprisonment. Those not court mar- 
tialed were given their liberty. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



SERVICE IN TEXAS. 



The mate of our vessel told me on the way down 
that Brazos Santiagfo was a delig-htful place, and we 
were expecting- to find beautiful cottag-es, and lovely 
senoritas filling- the air with delig-htful music, but 
these features were missing-. General Sheridan came 
there later and when he went back to his headquar- 
ters at New Orleans he was asked how he liked Tex- 
as and answered that if he owned Texas and h — 1 he 
would rent out Texas and g-o to h — 1. That's the 
kind of a place Brazos Santiag-o, Texas, was at that 
time. While at Brazos we had to haul water for 
drinking- and cooking- purposes ten or a dozen miles 
from Clarksville, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, in 
barrels in the ends of which an iron spindle was fast- 
ened so the men could put ropes on them and pull 
them down the beach at low tide like wheelbarrows, 
but this inconvenience was soon overcome bj our lo- 
cation at Clarksville, and shortly afterward a larg-e 
part of our regiment was detailed to build a railroad 
from Brazos to Brownsville, the first railroad built 
in western Texas. 

During- the following- winter quite a larg-e num- 
ber of soldiers of fortune who had served either in 
the United States or Confederate armies during- 
the war gathered along- the Mexican frontier, par- 



SERVICE IN TEXAS IS.'i 

ticularly near Bag'dad at the mouth of the Rio 
Grande, and at Matanioras thirty miles above, and 
about 3 o'clock one morning- under Major Thomas 
Sears, formerly of the Fourth New York Artillery, 
tiftj or more strong-, crossed the river at Bag-dad, 
where four hundred of Maximillian's troops and four 
pieces of artillery were located. To the Mexican chal- 
leng-e ''Quin vive," they replied with a fusillade and 
in less than a half hour they were in possession of 
the town and the place being- in a state of anarchy 
was occupied by a regiment of our troops a short 
time after to be surrendered to Colonel Garcia of 
General Kscobeda's staff later. Escobeda was the 
g-eneral who captured Maximillian a year or so after. 
During- the occupation of Bag-dad by the soldiers 
of fortune larg-e quantities of merchandise were trans- 
ferred to our side of the river and for the want of 
recog-nition by our government of Maximillian's pow- 
er were turned over to the treasury of the United 
States. The town was deserted by its people shortly 
after the attack and they came over en masse to 
Clarksville, and had many interesting- stories to tell 
of their experience. One of them was from Victor 
Du Prat, one of the toughs cleaned out of New Or- 
leans by General Butler during- his administration of 
the affairs of that city. Du Prat was a saloon keep- 
er and was eng-ag-ed at cards in a g'ambling- g-ame 
when the attack was made. He immediately blew 
out the lig-lit — they did not use g'as — and in the dark- 
ness he and his companions divided the money that 
was put up in the g-ame and parted. On his way out 
Du Prat encountered by a negro soldier took a silver 
dollar out of his pocket and handed it to him saying 
''Here boy take this pocket piece."' The negro took 
the dollar and with a chuckle called out "Go down 



154 SERVICE IN TEXAS 

deeper dar." Lieutenant Sin Clair, formerly with 
Captain Semines on the Alabama, the terror to our 
commerce which well nigh swept it from the seas 
during- the civil war, was one of the leading- soldiers 
of fortune who participated in the Bagdad raid. He 
had been appointed admiral bj President Juarez, Vv-ho 
was cooped up near El Passo, in the northeast corner 
of Mexico, but he had no flag-ship until the Bag-dad 
raid and frequently spent pleasant hours with myself 
and other officers of our reg-iment. Out of the Bag-- 
dad aifair he came with his flag- flying- over one of 
the finest boats on the Rio Grande river, which he 
said, was ballasted with wine and cig-ars, that he 
g-enerously invited his friends to come aboard and 
test the virtue of. 

Soon after this we who were only soldiers woke 
up to find our occup9.tion g-one, for in February we 
were mustered out and permitted to return to our 
homes, and the most amazing feature of this war ex- 
perience is how "we all," Union and Confederate sol- 
diers alike, nearly four million of us from first to 
last, dispersed in the body of our civilization without 
an}^ apparent detriment to its character. Coming- up 
the Mississippi river on my v/ay home we fell in with 
a Frenchman from New Orleans and he expressed 
himself bitterly ag-ainst General Butler and his ad- 
ministration of the affairs of that city. One of the 
party sug-g-ested that there was no 3'ellow fever there 
when Butler was in command. "What!" said the ex- 
cited and indignant Frenchman, "Do you think God 
has no mercy? General Butler and yellow fever at 
the same time!" 

After the war period and while the g-eneral was 
in cong-ress, I wrote him asking- his endorsement for 
a place in the public service and he replied: 



SERVICE IX TEXAS 155 

My Dear Major: I wish I had the influence to obtain 
for you such a place as you deserve but alas! I have not. 
You may use this noti: if occasion serve, as the fullest recog- 
nition of the value of services and well deserving- in the field. 
Yours truly, 

Benjamin F. Bui%er. 

He was then eiigag-ed, or about to eng-ag-e, in the 
prosecution, as one of the managers of the impeach- 
ment of President Andrew Johnson and it was hardly 
surprising- that he did not have much influence with 
his administration and lucky for me that did he not. 

A story went the rounds after General Butler left 
New Orleans that a couple of planters visiting- there 
during- his administration noticing- the prominent ad- 
vertisement on a dead wall, "Buy your shirts at Moo- 
dy's," were puzzled, and commenting- on its meaning- 
they came to the conclusion it was "another one of 
that fellow Butler's outrag-eous orders" and the best 
thing- they could do to avoid trouble was to g-o to 
Moody's at once and buy a couple dozen of kis shirts. 

Among- the slanders on the General's administra- 
tion in the Crescent City was a story that he stole the 
silver spoons of its people and his answer to that 
was: "People talk most about what they have the 
least of." When in cong-ress after the war he had a 
tilt with Cong'-ressman Bing-ham of Ohio, whose 
course in a matter relating- to Mrs. Surratt, hung- for 
complicity in the assassination of President Lincoln, 
he severely criticised; Bing-ham, referring- to the 
spoon story and General Grant's report that General 
Butler, at Bermuda Hundred, was as completely cut 
off from all further military operations as thoug-h 
placed in a bottle tig-htly corked, came back at him 
with: "Such ideas could only come from a man who 
has been corked up in a bottle and fed with a spoon." 



CHAPTER XXII. 



GOING WEST TO GKOW UP WITH THE COUNTRY. 

Our return to New Eng-land and its hum drum 
life, I imag-ine, produced about the same mental con- 
dition as characterize those negative inmates of 
Dante's Inferno who can neither g^et into Heaven nor 
into Hell. We were like fish out of the water. We 
must g*o somewhere to ag"ain be somebody. I say 
"we" I mean my chum and I. We had practically 
served tog^ether throug"hout the war, so we turned 
our faces westward intending to go to the new West 
and grow up with the country. Chicag-o was our ob- 
jective point as I informed quite an intelligent friend 
of mine, a "Judge." "Chicago!" said he, "why that's 
the place where you can bring the water to the surface 
of the earth by kicking a hole in it with the toe of 
your boot!" and he was not very far behind the times 
either in this notion. We started for the West in 
May, 1866, spent a short time in Chicago and drifted 
down to Galesburg where we went into business to- 
gether. At the end of six rnonths my partner came 
to the conclusion that I didn't know anything about 
business and I had the same opinion of him. As ar- 
my officers we had been the best and most harmoni- 
ous of friends but as business men we were the poor- 
est of partners. So we quit each other and I went 
South intending to locate near San Antonio, Texas, 



GOING WEST TO GROW UP WITH THE COUNTRY ln7 

and make a fortune in .sheep during- the next ten years. 
I abandoned this project after arriving- at New Or- 
leans and returned to Illinois in about a year deter- 
mined to fit myself for the leg-al profession which I 
had an inclination to next after that of the profession 
of a soldier and I commenced practice in the spring 
of 1870. 

My business extended to Knox, Peoria and Ful- 
ton counties, Illinois, and while not overburdening; 
me with its financial proceeds gave me some interest- 
ing and amusing experience. One day shortly after 
I opened an office a mover of buildings came to me 
saying ' 'You are a yourtg lawyer and need experience. 
I have a little case and am willing to risk a suit and 
pay the costs if I get beat. But I can't afford to pay 
attorney's fees. If you want the case you can have 
it." I agreed to this proposition and he brought suit 
before a justice of the peace for $2.50, the amount he 
claimed the defendant owed him for one day's use of 
ten jack screws. The defendant appeared on the re- 
turn day and secured a continuance for a week at the 
end of which he returned with his lawyer, a Mr. Rob- 
inson, and we went to trial with a jury which dis- 
agreed and the case went over for another week when 
the defendant not only returned to the battle on time 
with his former counsel but also had one of the most 
successful practitioners before a justice of the peace 
in that part of the country added to his legal staff. I 
saw I was in for it. I had no time to fool away on 
self consciousness and if I ever tried a case well it 
was the struggle to get a verdict for that $2.50, and 
I got it. The defendant followed this with the ar- 
rest of my client for perjury and his prosecution was 
decided malicious and the costs taxed against him. 
He now had a case that he needed an experienced 



15(S' GOING WKSr TO GKOW UP 

lawyer to manage, so he v/ent to the cotintj seat, 
Aledo, and retained Judg-e McConnell to bring- suit 
ag-ainst his prosecutor for $2500.00 and the last I 
heard of it he had a verdict for $1500, Years after, 
I was stumping the central part of this state for the 
republican ticket and ran onto a Judg-e Robinson of 
Hig-hmore, when it developed in our talk that both of 
VTS had lived at New Windsor, in Mercer county, Illi- 
nois, where I tried the jack screw case, and I men- 
tioned it to him. "I remember that case" said he, 
but I never knev/ until I learned from Lieutenant 
Governor Hindman, who had been treasurer of Mer- 
cer county, that the Judge was the law3'er Robinson 
who opposed me in its trial. 

In the spring- of 1873 the Grangers were in pol- 
itics. Our election for circuit and supreme court 
judg-es in Illinois was coming- off in the early part of 
June of that year. The Grang-ers met in convention 
at Princeton, loaded with anti-railroad sentiment and 
hostility to the Dartmouth College case, decided by 
the supreme court of the United States many years 
before, in which a law in the nature of a charter on 
the acceptance of the benefits of which private cap- 
ital was expended, was held to be a contract entitled 
to the protection of that clause of the United States 
constitvTtion which prohibited any state from impair- 
ing- the oblig-ation of a contract. Judg-e Lawrence, 
one of the ablest and most conscientious of our very 
able supreme court judges, was a candidate for re- 
election and A. M. Craig-, a prominent law^^er of 
Knox county, was nominated against him by the 
Grang-ers on their platform. The lawyers of the 
district — supreme court judg-es were elected from and 
by the electors of districts — were quite unanimous 
against him irrespective of politics, as they reg-arded 



•WITH THE COXTNTRY V^'*' 

tlie decision of the Dartmouth Colleg-e case, in which 
Daniel Webster made one of his greatest efforts, as 
settling- the question ag-ainst the rig-ht of a legisla- 
ture to fix maximum rates for the carriag-e of freig'ht 
and passeng-ers. Judg-e Lawrence had a short time 
before written the opinion of the court of which he 
was a member declaring- that it had power to prohib* 
it extortion and unjust discrimination, and, as I re* 
member it, that this was the limit of its j)Ower. Mr. 
Craig- was elected and one arg-ument used to bring' 
about this result was that if Judge Lawrence was so 
preeminently qualiiied for his office it was the part of 
wisdom to elect a new man to take his place as he 
mig-ht die and his successor should be preparing- him- 
self for that time. It was even reported that the as- 
sociates of Judg-e Lawrence talked of resigning when 
he was defeated, but Judge Craig was a man of good 
hard common sense, horse sense as he would say^ 
without vanity, unless it was of the character of Di- 
ogenes, and he donned a suit of blue jeans and took 
his place among the other judges as though he was 
to the manner born, and soon becam.e one of the best 
and most popular members of the bench, on v/hich he 
served twenty-seven years. About the time of his 
nomination he tried his last case; it was before a jus- 
tice of the peace and I was opposed to him and came 
out ahead. I do not mention this to shine by his re- 
flected light but as an incident showing how we new 
comers at the bar in those days in our struggles to 
stand alone sometimes ran up against the ablest 
members of the bar in the court of a justice of the 
peace. 

Writing of the supreme court of Illinois reminds 
me of a story about Abraham Lincoln and that court, 
which I ran onto somewhere twenty-five or thirty 



160 GOING WEST TO GROW UP 

years ag-o. Lincoln was attending- the court and had 
so recently been beaten by it in a decision handed 
down that his defeat was yet fresh in his memory. 
At that time Judg-es Breese, Caton and Skinner con- 
stituted the court and talking- tog-ether of the places 
of their nativity discovered that they were all born 
in Oneida county, New York. Lincoln joining- them 
a little later was told by one of them that they had 
discovered the remarkable fact that all the present 
judg-es of the court were born in the same county in 
the state of New York. "What county is that?" 
asked Lincoln. "Oneida county," answered the judg-e. 
"I always thoug-ht this was a One-idea court," said 
Lincoln. 

Before the civil v/ar the case of the Chicag-o, Bur- 
ling-ton and Quincy Railroad vs. Hazzard went to the 
Illinois supreme court. Hazzard was a lawyer with 
an extensive practice and had sued the railroad com- 
pany for damag-es in throwing* him from one of its 
trains by carelessness and injuring- his leg-s. One of 
the alleg-ed errors was excessive damag-es, and Judg-e 
Breese in delivering- the opinion of the court said that 
there was nothing- in the record to show that the ap- 
pellant's neg-lig-ence had injured the appellee so that 
he could not yet "Scale the heig-hts where fame's 
proud temple shines afar." Reduced to plain fact, 
that a lawyer could as well practice law without leg's 
as with them. It is said that a Chicago lawyer now 
needs leg's more than brains. Since the Hazzard case 
Judg-e Stipp of Princeton, Illinois, had a case before 
the supreme court in which his client had lost his 
toes by a railroad company's neg-lig-ence, and refer- 
ring- to that case said "The remarks of the learned 
judg-e in Chicag-o, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 
Company vs. Hazzard do not apply to the case at bar. 



WITH THE COUNTRY 161 

Mj client can no long-er scale the heig^hts where fame's 
proud temple shines afar for the reason that by the 
neg"lig"ence of the defendant he has lost his claws." 
Judge Breese was then chief justice. 

In the early daj-s of Illinois Justin Butterlield, 
another New Yorker, was an eminent and eloquent 
lawyer at the bar of that state. Before the United 
States court at the first capital of the state, Judg'e 
Pope presiding-, surrounded by the elite and beauty 
of the female portion of the community, Butte rfieid 
was eng'ag-ed in the defense of the Mormon prophet, 
Joe Smith, and he opened his case with: "May it 
please the court and g-entlemen of the jury I appear 
in the presence of the pope, surrounded bj' the ang^els 
of heaven to defend the prophet of the Lord!" 

Julius Manning" was a brilliant luminary in the 
array of leg-al talent in Illinois before the civil war. 
On one occasion he was making a most eloquent ap- 
peal before the circuit court at Monmouth, Illinois, 
in behalf of an unfortunate woman who had lost her 
character for virtue, and turned toward her with the 
expectation of witnessing" her sobs and tears but she 
was asleep. Instantly he faced the jury with: "Gen- 
tlemen of the jury she sleeps the sleep of innocence." 

In that section of the country was a prominent 
pro-slavery democrat named Georg-e Charles; he was 
quite an able man and a republican in everything" but 
on the neg-ro question, such as tariff, national banks 
etc. On one occasion when Judg'e Craig* was prose- 
cuting" attorney a neg"ro was tried for g-rand larceny, 
and the theft and the neg"ro's confession of guilt were 
established beyond doubt. When the jury came to 
vote on the question of guilt or innocence it develop- 
ed that there were eleven for conviction and one for 
acquittal and the one was George Charles. When 



162 GOING WEST TO GROW UP 

asked the reason for his verdict he replied: "There's 
no evidence of the g'uilt of the defendant except the 
confession of that d — d nig-g-er and I wouldn't believe 
a nigg-er any how." 

One of the justices of the peace of our section, 
Mike Welch, meeting- Judg-e Craig' in company with 
another lawyer told the following-: "Craig- is a g-reat 
man. He came up to my place wan time to thry a 
case and he brought Squire Massey wid him in the 
t^ugrgrj from Knoxville, fourteen miles away. He 
took a chang-e of venue from me and he thried to con- 
vince me that I had no right to sind the case to Squire 
Warner, the nixt nearest justice in the township, be- 
cause Squire Massey was the nixt nearest justice." 

Squire Welch was himself something of a char- 
acter. One day he was jogg-ing along the road to 
town and a neighbor desiring to ride with him came 
out and trotted along in his rear hailing him with: 
"Mike! Mike! Mike!" to which the dignified judge 
paid no attention. Finally the man nearly breath- 
less caught up with him and broke out with "Why 
the d — 1 didn't you stop when I called to ye?" to 
which he answered, "Why the d — 1 didn't you call 
me Squire Welch?" 

Another character who exercised concurrent ju- 
risdiction with Squire Welch was Mike Conner. 
Mike was a bright hot headed fellow with a keen 
sense of justice. A brother of Squire Welch once 
brought suit before him to recover several young cat- 
tle the title to which was in dispute between him and 
the defendant. The defendant was a Pennsylvania 
Dutchman and he did not relish the idea of a trial be- 
fore an Irish justice. So he made the usual affidavit 
that he believed the justice was so prejudiced against 
him that he could not have a fair and impartial trial. 



WITH THE COUNTRY 163 

Mike read the affidavit with tears in his eyes. 
"Well," said he, "if that man believed that its 
niig-htj roug-h on me." Then, instantly, "but if he 
didn't its a d — n sig-ht worse on him;" and the chang-e 
of venue asked for was g-ranted. 

In another case pending before Justice Conner 
the defendant's attorney made himself very disagree- 
able to one of the plaintiff's witnesses by pointing- his 
finger at him so close to his nose when he cross ex- 
amined him as to threaten a collision. The attorney 
for the plaintiff protested and threatened to throw a 
copy of the revised statutes at him if he continued 
the practice, and at last hurled it at his head, where 
it landed with considerable force. The question arose 
as to the duty of the justice in the premises and the 
offending lawyer told him he could be fined not to ex- 
ceed five dollars for contempt of court. "Show me 
that law," said Mike, and, becoming satisfied of his 
authority, he fined the lawyer who threw the book 
three dollars and the other five. 

Another interesting judge in that region was 
Andrew J. Coykindall. He was in the habit of going 
barefooted in warm weather but he always gave a 
good reason for his verdict when he served on a jury 
and therefore he was recommended to the county 
board of Knox county for the appointment to a va- 
cancy in the office of police magistrate and held the 
office later by election. "Jack," as he was called, 
was once engaged in performing a marriage ceremo- 
ny and this was the form of it. "Will you 

take this woman for your lawful wedded wife and 
will you promise to love and cherish her until death 

does you part?" "I will." "Will you take 

this man to be your lawful wedded husband and will 
you promise to love and obey him?" "I will." 



164 GOING WEST TO GROW UP 

*'Then I Andrew J. Coykindall, by virtue of the pow- 
er and authority vested in me by the commission of 
the g-overnor of the state of Illinois, do pronounce 
you man and wife, and may God have merc}^ on your 
souls." 

"Jack" was in the habit of calling on me to 
answer leg^al questions that had been put to him and 
if he had answered them incorrectly he explained the 
situation later b}- telling- the party that the way he 
had stated it used to be the law but it had been 
chang-ed by the reversed statutes. Police maf^istrates 
had jurisdiction in Illinois before the adoption of the 
constitution of 1870 to the amount of live hundred 
dollars and continued to exercise it until the courts 
held against them. A suit was broug-ht before 
"Jack" to recover for the destruction of bricks in an 
old well that belonged to the plaintiff and had been 
iilled with dirt by the defendant and for strawberry 
plants plowed up by him. The bricks were proved 
to be worth about fifteen dollars and the strawberry 
plants several hundred. I was for the plaintiff and 
the court took the case under advisement at the 
close of the trial. A friend of mine later learned 
that he V\^ould give us pay for the bricks but not for 
the strawberry plants. It was a "speck" case. The 
attorney's fees depended upon success and the plain- 
tiff was not g"ood for the costs so when the case was 
called for judgment we dismissed it at the plaintiff's 
cost before the court rendered its decision. The de- 
fendant's first name was Andrew and when '"Jack" 
next met him he said "Andy it was lucky for you 
that they dismissed that case. If they hadn't dis- 
missed it you'd had to pay for them brick as sure as 
God made little apples." 

Simeon P. Shope of Lewiston, Fulton county, II- 



WITH THE COUNTRY 165 

linois, was an eminent lawyer in that part of the 
state thirty years ag-o. Later he became a circuit 
judg-e and still later a judg^e of the supreme court of 
the state and he was a very brigfht and interesting- 
gfentleman. He is still in active practice in Chicag-o. 
He was uncompromising-l}^ opposed to the saloon bus- 
iness and only in the prosecution of such cases would 
he appear in a justice court. He came up one day to 
appear before "Jack" in such a case. Jack was an 
earnest temperance man and a teetotaler. My part- 
ner and I appeared for the defense but between Mr. 
Shope and the justice we were badly beaten in , short 
order. The next time Mr. Shope came up on such a 
mission we called a jury of twelve men and the fig"ht 
lasted about a week. The saloon prosecuted was 
called a club in which each member interested claim- 
ed an interest and therefore the rig-ht to claim ex- 
emption from testifying- ag-ainst a member on the 
g^round of a tendency to criminate himself, all wit- 
nesses called being- members of the club. So all per- 
vading- had the claim become tliat one of the witness- 
es who rolled from a bench in the court room on 
which he was reclining- in a dozing- condition exclaim- 
ed as he struck the floor "Claim the protection of the 
court !" In this prosecution the defendant was found 
g-uilty of violating- the city ordinance in a single in- 
stance and fined twenty-five dollars, but eventually 
discharg-ed on a writ of habeas corpus. We under- 
stood Mr. Shope had a "speck" fee in this case, bas- 
ed on the measure of his success. After this he sev- 
ered his connection with this branch of the practice. 
I think the most serious position I ever occupied 
in my professional experience occurred at Galesburg- 
in the first term of court held in that city after the 
county seat was moved there from Knoxville in 1873. 



166 GOING WEST TO GROW UP 

No court house had yet been provided but the city 
g'ave the use of a hall with seating- capacity for fifteen 
hundred to two thousand people as the court room^ 
which was filled with ari audience that had been list- 
ening- to a great murder trial just closed. I had 
brought suit for a client who had been run over and 
his leg- broken. The action was ag-ainst the father 
of a minor son VN^ho did the injury, which fact was 
disclosed in the declaration as well as the facts that 
the son was under the control of the father v/ho own- 
ed the horse the boy was riding when he ran my cli- 
ent down and that he knew the horse was often un- 
governable. My declaration was plentifully sprink- 
led with saids and aforesaids, but it was nevertheless 
good as the court finally held. Opposed to us was 
Mr. Curtis' K. Harvey of the firm of Craig and Har- 
vey, one of the brightest young lawyers I ever met, 
and the way he read the declaration and held it up to 
be laughed at in arguing his demurrer to it nearly- 
melted me down with humiliation. To save my life 
I do not think I could have risen to my feet to reply, 
although talking had been as easy to me cLS for water 
to run down hill. I could stand up to bullets but not 
to ridicule. In both respects I have since changed. 
Associated with me was George W. Kretzinger, now 
of Chicago, and for many years general counsel of 
the Monon Railroad Company, and he successfully 
disposed of Mr. Harvey's speech, which there was an 
excellent opportunity to do by reading the declaration 
so as to eliminate the ground for ridicule on the 
"saids" and "aforesaids," and thus show that the 
trouble was with the defendant's counsel and not with 
the declaration "he did not know how to read." 

In the political campaign of 18p6 I made a few 
speeches in Knox county. At one of the meetings in 



WITH THE COtnSTTRY 167 

a country school house in a "Pennsylvania Dutch" 
neighborhood it Vv^as called to order by a lord of the 
soil with "Schentlemens 3'ou vill come to order and 
all who ish in favor of Mister Vay for chairman vill 
say I" and following- the response, "Now all who ish 
in favor of de oder vay vill say de same ding-J' Mn 
Way was unanimously elected. 

I was out one night with a brother lawyer in the 
same business not far away from the "Pennsylvania 
Dutch" settlement and we were returning about 11 
o'clock through a belt of timber that lined a stream 
leading into the Illinois river bottom when not far 
awav in the brush came the most unearthly scream I 
ever heard. It frightened my horse, a thoroughbred, 
and she broke into her speediest gait to get us away 
from the locality. We did not know what the animal 
was but suspected it was a panther. In those days 
one occasionally roamed through the timber in that 
region under cover of the night's darkness. We were 
not looking for that kind of game. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS. 

In 1878 I traded for a quarter section of land in 
the south part of Dixon county, Nebraska, as bojs 
trade jackknives, "unsig'ht and unseen," and in the 
following- spring- I came out to see what kind of a 
prize I had drawn. Meeting a Wisconsin man in Iowa 
who was coming up to the southern part of Dakota 
Territory I joined him and we came to Yankton about 
the middle of April. 

At the time we arrived in Yankton the settle- 
ments of the territory of Dakota were chiefly confined 
to the south eastern counties as far north as Hutch- 
inson and Turner, a strip along the east line of the 
territory forty to fifty miles wide, a. few settlements 
along the Northern Pacific railroad as far west as 
Bismarck and the settlements of the Black Hills. 
The total population of the territory as shown by the 
census of 1880, was but one hundred and thirty five 
thousand one hundred and seventy seven. A day or 
two after our arrival my new-made friend, his brother 
and I left Yankton for a trip up the James river to 
look over the public land in the vicinit}' of Milltown. 
On our way up the stage road we made General Camp- 
bell's place on Dawson Creek, now adjoining Scot- 
land, for dinner. I had never known the g-eneral be- 
fore this meeting, but I learned in the course of our 
conversation that he org-anized and took to the field 




GEN. CHARLES T. CAMPBELL 



i:n' the land of the dacotahs. It')'^ 

the First reg-inuent of Pennsylvania Lig-bt Artillery, 
-subsequently commanded by Colonel Robert M. West, 
my old friend and brig-ade commander before Rich- 
mond, Va., in the spring- of 1864, and it was not long 
before we felt that we had knov/n each other from 
the outbreak of the civil war, and here I turn aside 
from ray Milltown journey to pay a tribute to one 
who in his way measured up to the class of which it 
has been written of a member, 

"Nature made but one such man 
And broke the die in moulding Sheridan," 
I quote from an article contributed by me to the 
Monthly South Dakotan of October, 1901. 

In 18r)3, Brigadier Charles T. Campbell, who af- 
ter gallant and meritorious service in the army of the 
Potomac in its campaigns from Yorktown to Freder- 
icksburg- in which he had been several times severely 
wounded, was assigned to duty in the Northwest, and 
in going- north from Yankton in that year crossed 
Dawson creek about a half a mile below Scotland, 
and noticed there an ideal location to start out with 
the future civilization of this part of Dakota. 

Later, in 1870, the g-eneral located near the scene 
of his observations and * * * not long- after his 
location he secured the establishment of a postofnce, 
called Scotland, on his claim. He was himself a wor- 
thy descendant of the clan Campbell and none braver 
orbolder ever met a foe in deadly encounter. Fol- 
lowing his settlement, as I am informed, he procured 
the survey and location of a stag-e road from Yankton 
by the way of Scotland to Firesteel, near the present 
site of Mitchell, and established a stage line on it 
with Scotland as one of the stations, which soon be- 
came known far and wide among- the traveling- public 
from the striking- characteristics of its hospitable 
landlord. It is perhaps proper to add here, in illus- 
tration of his pioneer spirit, that he ran the'first 
stage line from Yankton to the Black Hills; a picture 
of the four horse loaded coaches, of which, standing 



170 IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 

in the snow in front of the St. Charles hotel in that 
city, as tliej were about to start on their perilous and 
problematical journey, hung- for many years in the 
parlor of the Campbell house. 

The general had an abiding- faith in the location 
of a town at or near his Scotland home, and in 1879, 
when wagon surveys were being- made west by Fire- 
steel, Rockport and Milltown, for the Chicag-o, Mil- 
waukee and St. Paul Railroad Company, he wrote to 
Alexander Mitchell, the head of that system, with 
whom he had been acquainted since the days of his 
army experience, as to the character of the country 
in Hutchinson, Bon Homme and Yankton counties, 
and sugg-ested the building- of a line through there. 
Mr. Mitchell replied, thanking him, saying he would 
send a corps of eng-ineers out to look over the g-round 
and asked him to accompany them. In due time the 
engineers came, the general took them over the coun- 
try and the road was located, and shortly after built, 
from Marion Junction to Running- Water, and the 
tov/n of Scotland, taking- its name from the postoffice, 
was laid out so as to take the older Scotland into its 
embrace. The gfeneral built the first hotel here wor- 
thy of the name, and ran it for several years; it was 
known as the Campbell house, and so strong-ly did he 
impress his individualism upon it that although 
many years have passed since he left it, and his name 
has disappeared from the mansard roof where it was 
painted, it is still known as the Campbell house, and 
promises to continue so until the traditions of Gener- 
al Campbell shall no long-er be remembered. 

The Franklin County, Pennsylvania, History 
says of the g-eneral and his ancestral line: 

'Captain James Campbell, a refug-ee from Scot- 
land after the Stuart Rebellion of 1745, was a cap- 
tain of horse belonging to the House of Argyle. 
Joining the fortunes of the Pretender, his lot was 
cast with him, and after many escapes, succeeded in 
making- his way to America. He settled among- the 
Indians, at the spring- on the turnpike road leading 
to Bedford, near Campbellstown, and erected the 



IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 171 

same stone house that stands there now upon the 
rocks above the spring-. This was about the year 
17S0, the date of the deed from Thomas Penn and 
Richard Penn to James Campbell. His son, James 
Campbell, was a captain of the Pennsylvania line 
during- the revolutionary war. His brother Thomas 
was also a captain, and was taken prisoner at Fort 
Washing-ton. He laid out the town of St. Thomas, 
or Campbellstown, as it was g-enerally called. His 
son, James C, g-randson of the first James Campbell, 
the father of Charles T. Campbell, was a soldier in 
Davis' Mounted Rifles under General Harrison at the 
battle of Tippecanoe and the Thames. Was also a 
member of Captain Culbertson's company at Baltimore. 

'The three James Campbells all died on the old 
farm on Campbell's Run, and were buried in the old 
Presbyterian g-raveyard near Mercersburg-. 

'The g-reat g-randfather of General C. T. Camp- 
bell on his mother's side and his g-randmother Poe's 
side, was General James Potter, of the revolutionary 
war, his g-randfather, Captain James Poe, being- mar- 
ried to General Potter's daug-hter. 

'James Poe was captain of the Third company of 
Colonel Abram Smith's battalion of Franklin county. 
Lieutenant Thomas Poe, son of Captain James Poe, 
and uncle of General C. T. Campbell, was killed at 
Lundy's Lane, was adjutant of the reg-iment which 
went from Franklin and Cumberland counties in the 
war of 1812, under Colonel Fenton. He_ was buried 
on the American side somewhere by his comrades, 
but no monument marks his grave. 

'General Charles T. Campbell was born Aug-ust 
10, 1823, on the Campbell farm near St. Thomas, 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania, was educated at the 
Chambersburg- Academy, the military school at Bed- 
ford and lastly, at Marshall Colleg-e, Mercersburg-. 

'At the breaking- out of the Mexican war, he en- 
tered the service at Washing-ton, D. C, was appoint- 
ed a lieutenant of infantry. United States army, and 
assig-ned to the Eleventh reg-iment, was ordered on 
recruiting service to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 



172 IN THE LAND Ob' THE DACOTAKS 

and v/ent with the regiment to Mexico as lirst lieu- 
tenant of company B. In August, 1847, he was^ 
promoted captain of compan}^ A, of the same regi- 
ment. This regiment was disbanded^ after the war, 
at Fort Hamilton, N. Y. 

'When news came to Chambersburg of the liring 
upon Fort Sumter, the lirst train to Harrisburg took 
v.'ith it General Campbell and several other patriotic 
citizens, to urge upon the governor of Pennsylvania 
the necessity of immediate organization of volunteer 
troops for our own protection. The governor author- 
ized General Campbell to organize and equip a bat- 
tery of horse artillery, which was successfully done 
in about ten days. This batter}^ was the same com- 
manded by Captain K. Easton on so many bloody 
lields during- the v/ar. 

'The legislature authorized the recruiting' of a 
regiment of eigiit batteries, which General Campbell 
superintended at Harrisburg", Pennsylvania. When 
complete, on the 4th day of Aug-ust, 1861, the regi- 
ment was mustered into the United States service^ 
and ordered to join the army of the Potomac at 
Washing-ton, D. C. 

'At about this time General Campbell was com- 
missioned colonel of the regiment. The batteries 
were scattered and only three out ol the eight were 
tog-ether in McCall's division. (reneral Campbell 
served in this division as chief of artillery, until 
March, 1862, when he was appointed colonel of the 
Fifty-seventh Pennsjdvania Volunteer Infantry, a 
rifle regiment in the Third Corps, First Division, or 
better known as "Kearney's Division," which had a 
character for never g"oing back or getting out of am- 
munition. Campbell was severely wounded at the 
battle of Fair Oaks, left on the field for dead, and 
mitil brought into camp late at night, it was so re- 
ported. 

'November 29, 1862, he was appointed brigadier 
general, by special request of General Hooker, Gen- 
eral Berry, General Birney and General Sickles, the 
corps division oflicers of Hooker's Grand Division. 



IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 173 

'He was severely wounded in the battle of Fred- 
ericksburg-, December 13th, which unfitted him en- 
tirel}' for field service, having- received during- this 
campaig-n and on the Peninsula seven wounds. Af- 
ter partially recovering- from his wounds, he was or- 
dered by General Halleck on duty until the final mus- 
ter out of the general ofiicers, in January, 1866.' 

A contributor to 'Short Stories of American Sol- 
diers and Sailors' wrote of General Campbell a few 
years ag-o: 

'General Campbell is now nearly seventy years 
of ag-e, taut still delights to edify his old comrades 
with tales of warfare learned in the stern realities of 
the wars^throug-h which he has passed. Like Hayes, 
Heintzleman, Hancock, Reynolds, Humphreys, Coul- 
ter, Meade, Beaver, and a host of other heroic Penn- 
sylvanians, he was a hard fighter but fashioned in a 
g-enerous mold. He was one of the men who quit 
fighting at the close of the war, and today is proud 
of the national greatness of our whole country — proud 
of its progress and proud of the more than Spartan 
heroism displayed on more than two thousand battle 
fields by Americans from the north, south, east, and 
west.' 

Referring to incidents relating to the general 
and others, he said: 

'The incidents herein narrated in themselves 
are not exciting * * * jet they recall feelings of 
brotherhood and remind us of Bayard Taylor's lines: 
'The bravest are the tenderest, 
The loving are most daring.' 

A correspondent of the Sioux City Tribune sever- 
al years ago wrote of him: 

'There is not an old resident of the state who 
does not know General C. T. Campbell, a resident of 
Scotland. He stands out alone as one of the most 
peculiar and unique characters in the state. He is a 
man with a history. He followed the fortunes of 
Scott's army in the Mexican war * * * and fought 
side by side with Jefferson Davis, Lee, Pillow, Kear- 



174 IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 

ney, Grant, and others whom the rebellion made fa- 
mous. It is almost a pleasure to hear him swear. 
At times he becomes eloquent when things do not 
suit him, * * * with all his oddness he is big 
hearted and kind and companionable. When General 
Campbell passes away South Dakota will lose one of 
its greatest historical characters and the state a good 
citizen. It is proper to add here that in the Mexican 
war he participated in General Taylor's campaign on 
the Rio Grande, beginning at Palo Alto and ending 
with General Scott at Molino Del Rey and Chapul- 
tepec' 

Probably the name of no resident of the state or 
territory is connected with more spicy stories than 
that of General Campbell, and among" them are the 
following: 

After the close of the Peninsula campaign of 
1862, in which. he was badly wounded, as he used to 
tell the story on himself, Thad Stevens, then leader 
in the lower house of congress, who had been the 
general's friend from boyhood, asked President Lin- 
coln to promote him to brigadier general, and Lin- 
coln replied, 'I have more brigadier g-enerals now 
than I know what to do with;' but Stevens still urg- 
ed the promotion on the ground that General, then 
Colonel Campbell, was so badly wounded that he 
could not recover, and he wanted him given some rec- 
ognition before his death. 'All right,' said Lincoln, 
'If he's going to die I'll promote him,' and he shortly 
after became a brigadier. 

While the general held a position as Indian in- 
spector in the territory in the later sixties, he was 
elected to the legislature and, on account of his hold- 
ing a federal oflB.ce, Bligh Wood contested his seat. 
General Todd, our first territorial congressman, was 
General Campbell's lawyer, and lawyer and client did 
not always get along together harmoniously; some- 
times the profanely harsh criticisms of the latter 
would fall mercilessly upon the devoted head of the 
former. One night after such an experience, when 
General Campbell had retired, General Todd came to 



IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 175 

his room at the hotel, rapped energ-eticallj on the 
door until asked from within, 'Who's there?' The 
answer came, 'General Todd.' 'What do jou want?' 
'I want to come in.' General Campbell g^ot up and 
opened the door and General Todd stood before him 
with a bottle of champagfne under each arm and 
said: 'General Campbell, you insulted me today, and 
you can have a drink out of neither of these bottles 
unless you apolog-ize.' An apolog-y was in order be- 
fore a motion to adjourn and the rules were not sus- 
pended to avoid it. 

On the first Fourth of July in the life of the town 
of Scotland the g-eneral, mounted on his big- sorrel 
horse and looking- every inch a g-eneral, marshaled 
the country people in column to celebrate the occa- 
sion. They were mostly 'Russian-German' men and 
women dressed in the costumes of the old country 
and at their head rode the g-eneral as an inspiration. 
The nig-lit before there had been a heavy rain and 
the marchers were often ankle deep in mud, but, 
nothing- daunted, they followed their leader throug-h 
street after street until he halted them at the speak- 
er's stand where, after an address by the late Hon. 
Phil. K. Faulk, the g-eneral enlig-hlened them in 
'Pennsylvania Dutch' as to the meaning- of the occa- 
sion, and from that time forward the Fourth of July 
has never lacked intellig-ent and enthusiastic observ- 
ance by our German fellow citizens of the Scotland 
neig-hborhood. 

A story has often been told how on a certain oc- 
casion in the early days the g-eneral had skirmished 
around and procured a small turkey for his hotel 
g-uests, but there was not enoug-h for all, and, finding- 
a conspiracy had been entered into by them to call 
for turkey which he could not supply, that he check- 
ed the conspiracy with: 'Some of you blankety 

blank, etc., must eat roast beef, there's not enoug-h 
turkey to g-o around,' but the truth is that his friend 
Harry Wynn of Yankton, a brother Pennsylvanian, 
was one of the guests, and having- no end of confi- 
dence in the gentlemanly, self denying instincts of 



176 IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 

Pennsjlvanians, when the g-eneral found the turkey 
would not hold out, he whispered to him: 'Harry, by 

, the turkey wont g^o around, vou must eat roast 

beef.' 

When Kev. Dr. Carson lirst came to the territory 
the g-eneral met him at the depot, and learning- upon 
inquiry who he was exclaimed: 'By , I'm a Pres- 
byterian,' and he was, except in religion. * * * 

The following- is taken from a story told b}' Hon. 
Moses Armstrong throug-h the St. James (Minn.) Ga- 
zette, of his canipaig-ning- in Dakota in the early days 
for a seat in congress as its deleg-ate. He visited the 
general at his ranch up the Missouri river,and at the 
meeting-, while the latter was making- a speech of 
welcome, some one on a back seat shot off his hat. 
but he went on speaking- bare headed and 'finished 
with fiery eloquence.' The band then struck up and 
played a lively tune for the Indians, who pronounced 
it 'iieap noise, plenty brass, big- thunder drum.' Arm- 
strong- then called the general aside and intimated 
that when the next shooting- scene was to take place 
he would retire to the side wing-s of the stag-e for 
prayer and inspiration; that he did not come up there 
to be shot at; that he came to catch ballots, not bul- 
lets; to which the g-eneral replied: 'Now.M.K., don't 

be a coward; I broug-ht you here to show these 

democratic hyenas the kind of stuff you are made of. 
If you show the white feather you are a dead duck 
with this crowd. You should have done your pra}-- 
ing- before you crossed the county line.' 

'You must bare your breast and tell them to shoot, 
And you'll get the vote of every galoot.' 

While the g-eneral was keeping- the Campbell 
house at Scotland, one evening- a guest told him he 
v/anted to leave on the train the next morning- at 2 
o'clock. The g-eneral sat up all nig-ht to be sure of 
calling- him in time. When called, the traveling- man 
finding- it was raining- said, 'I g^uess I wont go, g-en- 
eral.' 'I g-uess, by , you will,' replied the latter. 

'Get out of here before I wash the sheets of that bed 
with well water.' And he left in a hurry. 



IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS. iVV" 

On another occasion, at the hotel, a question was 
up between two of his g'uests as to certain phases oi 
the civil war and the g-eneral modestly ventured a 
sug-g-estion, when one of them turned on him con- 
temptuously wdth, 'How do you know? Who are 3'ou, 
anj'way?' and was i^romptly answered with, 'Kead 
the history of your country, ^ you, and find out.' 

A few years before the g-eneral's death, Rev. 
Kberhardt, who had been chaplain of his regiment 
and parted with him in tiie field near Richmond in 
1862, and whom he had never since seen, came to 
Scotland to visit him. The reverend gentleman found 
the general at his old home on Uawson creek and was 
at once recognized without an introduction. After 
they were seated for some little time, the general, 
gazing intentl}^ and affectionately at his old comrade, 
said earnestly: 'I am glad to see you;' then after a 

pause: 'By , I am glad to see you.' And that he 

was no one who has had like experience will doubt. 

When the country tributary to Scotland was fill- 
ing up with settlers many of them put up at the gen- 
eral's hotel and on one occasion the house was so full 
that he could not accommodate all of his guests with 
beds; oue of them thus situated came out of the din- 
ing room after supper and said to the general: 'Sa}^ 
can't you give me a bed?' 'No,' said the general, *I 
am sorry, but as I told you before supper, the rooms 
are all occupied and the cots engaged.' 'Well,' said 
the guest, 'I shan't stop here the next time I come to 
town.' Said the general, looking sternly at him over 
his glasses, 'That'll break me up.' Vo which the 
guest replied: 'I did not have a very good supper any 
way.' By this time the guests within ear shot, forty 
or fifty in number, became interested and were look- 
, ing for the general to put a finishing touch on the 
situation which he did with: 'If you don't like your 
supper you can throw it up.' 

Once the hotel took fire in the second story and 
the general soon put in an appearance with a shock- 
ing volume of eloquent profanity. The fire was 
burnino- in one of the rooms of the girls connected 



178 IN THK LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 

with the house, among- them 'little Annie,' a g^irl 
who had lived in the g-eneral's family for a long-time, 
and was caused by their carelessness; the house was 
in dang-er of destruction with about all of the gener- 
al's belonging-s, but, turning- he savv^ Annie crying- 
bitterly and tried to console her with: 'Don't cry, 

Annie, don't cry, let the hotel burn down and 

we'll build another one.' And this was the true Gen- 
eral Campbell. God bless his generous soul ! Lion 
hearted as he was he would rather see his hotel and 
its contents reduced to ashes than witness the tears 
of that little g-irl. 

When I turned my attention to General Campbell 
we were on our way to Milltown, which we reached 
that evening- about dark. On the road up there, 
about ten or fifteen miles out, we came upon Vvhat 
appeared at a distance to be a long- line of Indians 
and a nearer approach disclosed the fact that it was 
made up of freshly arrived German Russians and their 
families in their Sunday clothes scattered along the 
creek where they had so recently located that piles of 
lumber and sod that were to be used in constructing 
their habitations marked their different settlements. 

At this time the north half of Hutchinson county 
was known and recognized as Armstrong county; al- 
though the legislature of 1879 had consolidated it 
with Hutchinson county it was still doing business 
at the old stand, Milltown its county seat, where fil- 
ings on government land could be made. On the 
evening of our arrival at this metropolis we put up 
at the Walters House, a very hospitable inn but 
somewhat below the standard of first class hotels in 
the state now-a-da3's. To wake the guests in the 
morning a fire of twigs and a bunch of hay was built 
in the parlor stove, the pipe of which ran up through 
the sleeping rooms where it was unjointed; at least 
that was the practice the morning we were there. 



IN THE LAND OF THK DACOTAHS 179 

The day following' our arrival we went west 
about sixteen miles and located "six" claims, a home- 
stead, or a pre-emption, and a timVjer claim for each 
of us. Tw^o of us settled on claims just over the east 
line of Douglas county. I held on to mine and the pre- 
emption of the other settler was abandoned. The place 
where we located was a solitude; look away as far as 
the eye could reach across the blackened plain over 
which the fires had swept and consumed every ves- 
tige of veg-etation and not a sig-n of life was visible, 
out side our party, except two or three antelope that 
took g-ood care to keep a safe distance from us. To 
abandon my home in Illinois and a living- business at 
a bar which contained some of the best lawyers in 
the state, to engag-e in farming- in this desolate and 
apparently God forsaken reg-ion looked foolish indeed, 
but I was pursuing- an idea that I had long- enter- 
tained. The men who had served the Republic in 
other wars before that of the rebellion had been g-iv- 
en a land g-rant or a land warrant for their services 
and it V\^as provided by law that an}^ honorably dis- 
charg-ed soldier of the Union should have a credit for 
the term of his service, not to exceed four years, out 
of the five years residence required to procure a 
homestead on the public lands. I had served nearly 
five years and throug-hout the war, and here was a 
chance to practically come into the ownership of one 
hundred and sixty acres of g-overnment land as the 
soldiers of previous wars had been given an opportu- 
nity to do. The land when proved up on would not 
be worth the sacrifice, labor and expense it cost to 
take it, but the desire to g-et a soldier's homestead 
could not be measured in dollars and cents. 

After v/e secured our filings I returned to Illinois, 
closed up my business there and got ready to begin a 



180 IN the; land of the dacotahs 

residence on m7 homestead, which I did the following^ 
fall. I hired five acres to be broken on each of mj 
claims, and a house to be built. I took an old soldier 
from Illinois out with me the next spring- and he was 
.so useful and handy that he was called my man Fri- 
day. If we needed a house built, and we soon did as 
the Rrst one was but a claim shack, he built it. If 
we needed meat he would soon produce it, if it could 
be found on the prairies or in the heavens above. 
He was a dead shot. When it came to farming he 
could spin the finest theories I ever listened to. He 
explained that we could take off two of the wheels of 
our lumber wagon and put them on an axletree un- 
der which we could attach the breaking plow and our 
three horses would walk right along with it. Later 
it didn't work that way. 

I shipped my horses and other belongings out in 
1880, and Friday had charge of them. He had the 
transportation for the car and I bought a ticket to 
ride with him. We Avent from the starting point to 
Chicago over the Chicago Burlington & Quincy road 
and there we had to have our car switched over to 
the Chicago Milv/aukee and St. Paul road, but how 
was I to get transportation! There was no ticket of- 
fice in the vicinity of the freight train yards. The 
reason why I went with Friday instead of going- on a 
passenger train was that I had a little black and tan 
dog that was so fond of me that I feared he would 
grieve himself to death if I sent him by express, and 
when the situation was explained to the 3'ard master 
by Friday he was at once furnished an engine to g-o 
up to the passenger depot and buy me a ticket. It 
occurred to me that that was mighty kind and ac- 
commodating. 

We left Scotland as soon as we could unload our 



IN THE LAND OF TIIR DACOTAH.S 181 

car and store the goods we could not carry with us, 
and we had a very heavy load, including" breaking- 
plow and lumber enoug-h to make the roof for the 
necessary stable for our horses. We had to g"o thirty 
five miles north west of Scotland, Friday leading- 
with the loaded team and I following- with the horse 
and buckboard, and the little dog-. The close of the 
first day found us but seventeen miles out where we 
put up for the nig-ht with a German Russian farmer 
named Adam Kayser in his mud house, and we were 
g-iven the best he had for a small consideration. Four 
or five years ag-o I passed his place and he had one of 
the best and most artistic homes I have seen in the 

'state. The next day we pursued our journey unti 1 
we came to a dry run which we attempted to cross 
but our hind wheels went down to the hubs and it 
looked as thoug-h there was no way out but to un- 
load. However, a young- German Russian woman 
came to our relief with a yoke of oxen, directed us to 
take our horses out of the way and let her hitch the 
oxen to the tong-ue. We obeyed orders and after she 
had her ox yoke ring- secure on the end of the tong-ue 
she started ahead with a rope around one of the ox- 
en's horns and called "coom" and they did "coom." 

'They hauled that wag-on with its thirty five hundred 
pounds of freig-ht out on hig-h, dry and solid gTound 
as thoug-h it was empty. 

The following- day we reached home, sweet home. 
It was a space dug- in the hill side about ten feet wide 
and twelve feet long-. Half of it was in the side hill 
and the other half was walled in with sod. It had a 
g-ood board roof covered with tarred paper, a good 
door and a half window. As a starter it ansv/ered 
very well for the head of the family. It had no spare 
rooms in it but I commenced my residence there the 



182 IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS' 

fall before and woke up one morning- to find the bed 
covered with a half foot of snow wliich was a remind- 
er that the holes on the north side must be closed up 
for the sake of comfort. We soon had our stable 
built and commenced farming- operations. I planted 
potatoes on breaking of the j-ear before, but I did not 
g-et mj seed back. We set out some trees and black- 
hervj plants and thej were even less of a success than 
the potatoes, but we sowed fivve acres of oats and the 
same of wheat and raised a pretty g'ood crop of both. 
After we g-ot our crops in we were ready to build 
a house and inquiry developed the fact that we could 
buy lumber cheaper at Menno than at Scotland, ten 
miles nearer, so I went to Menno for a load of boards, 
joists and shing-les. This was all we needed in a pret- 
ty g-ood dwelling house in those days. It was the 
longest forty miles lever traveled, and when I got into 
the Wolf creek Mennonite settlement, of which I had 
never heard, I was suspicious that I had been hoo- 
dooed or that either they or I had been transformed 
in some way after the manner of the leading charac- 
tet in Ignatius Donnelly's Doctor Huguay, but I got 
through all right and loaded my lumber and start- 
ed back. I had a five gallon can of kerosene and a 
box of crackers on my load and when I came to some- 
thing that threatened disaster I generally took them 
off before I advanced and this I did when I attempted 
to cross a creek in which we stuck until hauled out by 
the ever present German Russian and his yoke of ox- 
en. This time he hitched on ahead of my horses and 
all pulled together, It had been so long since I had 
vised a team that I had forgotten how to chain a 
wheel to go down hill safely and on my way into the 
James River Valley near Milltown the load was too 
much for the horses and we landed among- the rocks 



TN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 183 

by the road side with some damag-e to the running 
g-ear of my wag"on, but as all thing's must come to an 
<2nd I arrived home at about 11 o'clock at nig-lit, and 
learned a few days later that I bought my lumber at 
Menno of the same concern I had previously boug-ht 
of at Scotland. 

We built our house ten by sixteen oii the ground 
with a lean-to ten feet wide and sixteen feet long* and 
we were considered aristocrats, particularly by such 
people as had a stable for their horses and lived un- 
der their wag'ons, the opening's at the sides and rear 
end of which were sodded. And the kind of living 
in which we then indulged was productive of much 
comfort and contentment. We had but few neighbors 
and I think we all felt as rich and independent as 
was g-ood fof us. No "crooking" the pregnant hinges 
of the knee that thrift might follow fawning." When 
will civilized mazi learn that the measure of his man- 
hood is so largely determined by his ability to live 
within his income, no matter how small? Like 
Thoreau for example, who built a most comfortable 
home and lived a year on about sixty dollars and at 
the same time wrote one of the most readable books 
of his time. 

But I have strayed from my business as a farmer. 
After we were comfortably domiciled in our new 
home we started out to engag-e in breaking prairie. 
We did not rig up the plow with the wheels of the 
wagon. That did very well to talk about when we 
wanted to make farming easy, but we went at it in 
the old way with the horses, one of which was balky 
to start with and another soon became so. We plan- 
ned to break eighty acres. Friday held the plow and 
I drove the horses. I had a whalebone carriage 
whip to touch them up v/ith as they needed it. One 



184 IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 

of them would occasioiialh^ g-et sulky, another would 
try to jump over him and the other, true to her sex, 
was willing- to do all she could. Sometimes the plow 
would be dancing- along- on its point and sometimes it 
would be in the g-round to its beam. We plowed a 
double furrow the leng-th of the land that day before 
we quit and I haven't plowed any since. Subsequent- 
ly Friday worked two of the horses doubled up with 
a neig-hbor and broke about thirty acres that season. 

While on a visit to General Campbell and his 
family at Scotland, on the 4th of July of that year, 
we met Governor Ordway, who had just arrived in 
the territory and was on his way to Mitchell to deliv- 
er the address at the celebration there which was to 
come off on the following- day, Monday. The g-ener- 
al had many acquaintances among- public men in the 
city of Washing-ton, where the g-overnor had lived 
for several years, and I was acquainted with a few 
prominent men in New Hampshire, the g-overnor's 
native state, so our conversation was quite free. He 
told us he had been offered the appointment as g-ov- 
ernor of Dakota, or Washington, but he preferred 
Dakota as from his position here he could see better 
business opportunities; that he thoug-ht the capital 
of the territory should be moved to a location on the 
public land to be entered by the territory for that 
purpose so that the people would g-et the benefit of 
the g-rowth of the place. Something- like this was 
in the capital removal act passed later. He express-, 
ed himself as struck v\ith the similarity of the loca- 
tion of Yankton on the Missouri river with that of 
Georg-etown on the Potomac, that it mig-ht be well to 
change the name of Yankton to Georg-etown, and 
when the capital deal was on later and everything 
within reach seemed to be going- with its removal 



IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 185 

from Yankton, I marveled that be did not take awaj 
the name of that town and confer upon it one more to 
his liking". 

Early in October a big- prairie fire came up from 
the Indian reservation south and west of us and 
threatened to destroy us and our homes, but with our 
well prepared firebreaks and industrious opposition 
we kept it off with little loss. A few days later we 
went from summer's heat to winter's cold and into a 
furious blizzard in which it snowed and the wind 
blew and howled for three days during which our fuel 
ran out and we burned the lumber we had bought for 
a granary, to keep ourselves warm. However, during" 
the storm we learned with the assistance of a neigh- 
bor how to twist hay into rolls or sticks so tightly that 
three or four of them would cook a meal, and that 
solved the fuel problem for all further farming opera- 
tions; we had plenty of hay. 

During that farming- season while Friday was 
engaged in work that he alone could do and that had 
to be done then, I undertook to make some biscuits. 
I mixed the dough all right and made a nice pan full 
of dough balls. Whether or not they were to be bis- 
cuits remained to be determined. I put the pan in 
the oil stove oven and it seemed to be hot enough to 
bake anything, but the heat merely bleached the 
dough and hardened it like pressed brick. As biscuits 
the little dough balls were a dismal failure, but as 
grape shot they would have been a decided success if 
our neighboring Indians had been on the war path 
and ammunition was needed to cool them off. After 
that experience I confined my efforts in bread making 
to flap-jacks in the manufacture of which I had 
been thoroughly schooled by Friday. 

Speaking about Indians reminds me that we had 



186 IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 

a visit from a party of them that season and, while 
we were in doubt as to their character and purpose, 
our horses became frig-htened and ran away from 
home to g^et beyond their reach. They did not seem 
to be fascinated with them, at least, and if horses 
think they may have reasoned that, like some white 
folks, they were sometimes victims of temptation and 
virtue with them was merely a matter of the want 
of opportunity to be bad. 

As we were about going- away from the farm 
that fall to winter in Scotland I turned over my sur- 
plus oats to a German friend to dispose of. He re- 
ported later that he had sold them to a new comer, 
and that in counting* the sacks it was reported to 
him that one more sack was taken than was paid for. 
This report was afterwards resented by the person 
ag"ainst whom the charg-e was made and resulted in a 
split in the church, and finally in establishing- a new 
church by the accused party and his friends, as I 
was informed. If the charge v/as true the sack of oats 
would hardly comply with "Thou art Peter which is 
a rock and on this rock I will build my church and 
the g-ates of hell shall not prevail ag-ainst it." 

Late in the fall of 1880 we located in Scotland 
expecting- to pass a pleasant winter, as the winter be- 
fore had been very mild, and I was informed by the 
Rev. Morris, who was an old settler, that the winters 
of Dakota were usually so warm that one could keep 
comfortable with a linen coat on after the first of Jan- 
uary, which I found to be true — if one had enough of 
clothing beneath to keep him warm without it. The 
winter opened during the holidays with heavy snows 
and about the l^th of January the railroad running 
into the town was blockaded and remained so for the 
next three months. 



IN THE LAND OF THE DACOTAHS 187 

On the 7th of January I went to Yankton across 
countr}- to trj^ a lawsuit and when we arrived there, 
about 10 o'clock in the morning-, we found the ther- 
mometer reg-istering- twenty seven deg^rees below zero, 
but we made a comfortable journey in a sleigh the 
bottom of which was covered with a feather bed ex- 
tending- from seat to seat, I and two other men sitting- 
on the back seat and tv/o women sitting- in front fac- 
ing- us with another feather bed over all of us as a 
substitute for a buffalo robe. The suit was for divorce 
and my client wanted it, but we were in such good 
temper when we reached the court that the case was 
settled and the parties returned to Scotland to live 
together as husband and wife until death parted 
them. 

During the winter the question of procuring fuel 
with which to cook our food and keep us warm was a 
serious one; with the blockade of the railroad coal 
ran out and we had to depend on a supply of wood 
from the Missouri riv^er twenty miles away. Here 
Friday was at his best for he made trips with a sled 
as often as it was necessary to keep up the fuel sup- 
ply, but after he cut it up for use it was usually so 
gi'een or so wet that we had to bake it in the oven of 
the cook stove before it was fit for use in the fire box. 
The winter wore away slowly and was followed by 
spring floods that carried away the railroad and 
highway bridges and flooded the prairies to such an 
extent that all lines of travel except by navigation 
were closed until about the last of April, when Fri- 
day and I started out for Douglas county, to begin 
farming operations. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY, 



About the last of April, 1881, I learned that 
Douglas county had been org^anized during- the pre- 
vious winter. This was unwelcome news to all the 
settlers of the county, and they did not number more 
than a baker's dozen, while it required a petition of 
at least fifty voters to be presented to the g-overnor to 
authorize him to appoint the county commissioners 
who could complete the org-anization by appointing- 
the other officers. 

Investigation developed the fact that one Walter 
H. Brown, then a resident of Spring-field in Bon 
Homme county, had presented a petition to the gov- 
ernor purporting to be signed by fifty six legal voters 
of the county and asking for the appointment of three 
other alleged residents as county commissioners; that 
the petition was verified by himself upon information 
and belief; that it was presented to the governor du- 
ring the session of the legislature and Brown referred 
him to a prominent member of that body who claim- 
ed he had known him in Iowa as a county commis- 
sioner, candidate for congress and president of a pro- 
jected railroad, which was true. In addition to this 
that Brown claimed his poor old mother, more than 
eighty years old, whom the governor knew in New 
Hampshire in his younger days, was out in Douglas 



ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 189 

county on his claim and he wanted to get back right 
away to get fuel to save her from freezing to death; 
whereas not a person living in the county, or who 
ever lived there, had signed the petition or heard of 
it, although the names of some of them were on it 
with the names of several persons living in Bon 
Homme county, and none of the persons named in the 
petition as county commissioners lived in the county. 
Brown was one of them and lived at Springfield, an- 
other lived at Bon Homme, and the other was a roust- 
about on a Missouri river steamboat frozen in at Fort 
Benton, and it was utterly impossible on account of 
the deep snow for Brown to get to the place where 
he claimed his mother was at the time, and she was 
comfortably domiciled at Springfield. 

On the showing made by Brown the governor is- 
sued commissions as prayed for in the petition and in 
a few days after I learned the situation I called on 
him and asked him to see the friend of Brown who 
had endorsed him so highly and try to have him in- 
fluence him to give up the commissions as the real 
settlers of the county intended to go into the courts 
to secure their rights if he went on with his organi- 
zation scheme. He promised to do as I requested 
but I heard no more of it, except that the endorser of 
Brown claimed the governor never spoke to him about 
it. Later I commenced proceedings to oust the com- 
missioners, and, in the mean time, to enjoin them 
from performing the duties as such officers, but the 
difficulty was to get service on the defendants. No- 
body had seen them in the county and for a long time 
their whereabouts could not be learned, except one 
who disclaimed any title to the office or knowledge of 
his appointment. 

At last it developed that Brown's endorser claim- 



190 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 

ed he was at Brown's house in the summer of 1880 
and this was followed b}' information that he and 
Brown were seen in a shanty on wheels in June of 
that year g"oing- in the direction of the north west 
corner of the count}'- and runners were sent out to lo- 
cate it. Brown was found a little later on Andes 
Creek about live miles north west of where Armour 
now stands and with him were two or three of his as- 
sociates in the "public service." They had evidently 
moved in recently as their shacks were mostly in 
course of construction. Papers v/ere served on Brown 
and he was asked where Hoyet, his associcite commis- 
sioner, lived, whom we later learned was at Fort Ben- 
ton, and he pointed to a sing-le wag-on trail leading- 
out into Charles Mix county which when followed 
several miles returned to Brown's settlement. As a 
matter of fact none of the commissioners appointed 
b}^ tlie g-overnor, except Brown, ever acted, although 
their record showed that Hoyet acted at the meeting: 
when the vacancy caused by the disclaimer of one of 
them was filled and the other county officers were 
appointed, and the testimony of Kdgar Berry, an 
honest man who believed he was regularlj' appointed 
sheriff, showed that a man who responded to the 
name of Hoyet, who came tb the meeting- from no 
where and returned to the same place, acted as a com- 
missioner on several occasions, but disappeared as 
soon as we began to look him up for service of process. 
That this organization was made for a swindling 
purpose on a large scale I never had a doubt, and in 
this belief I pursued it until it was broken up, its 
principal operators fug-itives from justice and its ne- 
farious object defeated. I instituted suits to enjoin 
and oust the appointees of the county board as soon 
as we could learn who they were, but after we g'ot 



OKGAKIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 191 

^service on Brown we mig^ht as well have had writs 
ag-ainst some particuhir g'opher in the Andes Creek 
hills as against an}- of the partj', excejjt Edg-ar Berrj' 
the sherilf, who never attempted to evade us but did 
not know what the other fellows were up to, except 
thai a pair of horses were constantlj^ kept harnessed, 
and one of the g'ang posted dailj' with a field g'lass 
where he could sweep the prairies with a searching- 
observation and warn his companions to liee when- 
ever any outsider was seen approaching- their settle- 
ment, which was located in an out of the way place 
from the other settlements. 

The}- named their settlement Brownsdale, lo- 
cated the count}- seat there and were reported to have 
divided the county into three school districts for the 
purpose of bonding- each for fifteen hundred dollars, 
and the method of procedure was to move the same 
shack on wheels into each of the districts to make a 
showing- for building- purposes. Brown's district was 
immediately north of his dwelling- and when he retir- 
ed one evening- the school house was there but the 
next morning- it was gone. Coming- out and discov- 
ering- the loss he exclaimed: "J — s C — t, who stole 
my school house?" 

My view of the plan of operations was that the 
org-anizers would issue all the warrants on the county 
treasury that they could float and if let alone would 
g-et an act throug-h the next leg-islature to authorize 
the funding- of the debt in the bonds of the county, 
and if the courts should hold ag-ainst us in the ouster 
suits, or hold, as the supreme court did later, that the 
org-anization was g-ood de facto and could bind the 
county the same as though its of&ces were held by 
unchalleng-able title, then we who had taken claims 
in the county as bona ride settlers raig-ht as well move 



192 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 

out. To meet this situation it was necessary to keep 
the litig"ation alive which I had started; to make 
search of all parts of the county so as to be able to 
prove when the trial came on any of the warrants 
that they were bad because issued fraudulently and 
without consideration, except so far as they were is- 
sued for books of record, field notes, blanks and sta- 
tionery, the only thing's of value received for any 
warrants by the county. 

One of the suits was fixed for hearing- before 
Judge Shannon at Yankton about the 5th of July, 
1881, but when we went down there, I mean myself 
and most of the bona fide settlers of the county, he 
was absent on his official duties and had adjourned 
the hearing- to September 5th, following". On Sep- 
tember 5th we agfain put in an appearance but the 
judg-e was busy with the Yankton county bond case 
and we were told to g-o home and come back in Octo- 
ber, and when we came we found the supreme court 
in session and were turned back ag^ain. These people 
were poor, many of them living- in sod shacks, but all 
were willing- to contribute their time, their teams and 
the money necessary to pay clerk of court's fees to 
meet the fraud that threatened to deprive them of 
their holding-s. 

I endeavored to publish the facts of the situation 
in two or three newspapers in the territory and in the 
St. Paul Pioneer Press without success, and I wrote 
to Hon. William M. Spring-er, a representative in 
cong-ress from the Spring-field, Illinois, district, whom 
I knew, a statement of the facts, also a showing- that 
immediate relief from the courts or the leg-islature 
was out of the question, and asked him to present a 
petition to cong-ress of the bona fide settlers of the 
county praying- for an act to wipe out the organiza- 



ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY l'.>3 

lion subject to the leg-al rig-lit of honest creditors, if 
any. He replied to my letter saving- he Vv'Guld pre- 
sent any petition to cong-ress the people of Douglas 
county desired, and advised nne to write up a historv 
■of the facts relating- to the fraudulent org-aiiization 
and send it to the Chicago Times, which I did, and 
its publication brought matters to a crisis. 

In the meantime the settlers, outside of the 
Brown gang numbering- seven or eig-ht men and their 
families, some of Vvdiom had two or more ofiices, 
searched the county thoroughly and found no 
court house, jail, roads, bridg-es or other improve- 
ments and nothing but the lield notes and books of 
record for which treasury warrants or orders could 
honestly issue, and this information was decisive of 
the litigation on the bog-us warrants at a later date. 

In July, 1881, Thomas H. Parsons of Worthing- 
ton, Minnesota, came out here v/ith a block of Doug-- 
las county warrants calling- for several thousand dol- 
lars which it was reix)rted had been sold him by a 
prominent politician of Bon Homme county as having 
been issued for public improvements, and they were 
taken care of by him. Late in the following fall a 
g-entleman came here from Albert Lea, Minnesota, 
representing- H. G. Easton of Lanesboro, Minnesota, 
a prominent capitalist, with another lot of seven or 
eight thousand dollars in Vv^arrants of this county and 
a copy of the article I had written for the Chicago 
Times, looking- for the county seat of Douglas county 
and a redeemer for his warrants. Not long after their 
redemption was reported as made by two prominent 
leaders in the political life of the territory. 

Taking advantage of the disclosure Governor 
Ordway, who had remained inactive, so far as I could 
learn, since his promise to me that he would see the 



194 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 

man who endorsed Walter H. Brown at the time the 
org"anization steps were taken before him and advise 
him of the true situation and urg-e him to have Brown 
surrender the commissions, suddenly awoke to the 
situation and dispatches were sent out from Yankton 
to leading newspapers of the West telling- of the great 
wrong" he had discovered in which an attempt to de- 
fraud the people of Douglas county of two hundred 
thousand dollars was in operation; that he was doing 
all in his power to prevent its success and if the ring 
leader had not escaped he would be arrested. Major 
Burke, an ag'ent of the g-eneral government, had 
caused a warrant to issue for the arrest of Brown, but 
before the deputy marshal had left Yankton to serve 
the warrant the newspapers containing the startling 
information of the governor's discover}^ had reached 
here and Brov^n had ample time to escape which he 
did. This prosecution, I learned from the governor, 
was the best way to dispose of Brown, while I insist- 
ed that he should be prosecuted for his work in the 
fraudulent organization, no matter what steps the 
government took. This he strongly objected to. 

Early in the following spring' I arrang-ed with 
Judge Edgerton, then presiding judge of the Yankton 
district, and E. G. Smith, our present circuit judge, 
then district attorney, to have the Yankton grand jury 
h eld until I could get the witnesses there from Douglas 
county. The g'overnor returned from Washing'ton 
about that time and called a meeting of the witnesses 
I needed, at Mitchell seventy miles distant from 
Yankton, at the time I had arranged to have the 
grand jury there look into the Douglas county matter 
— a co-incidence perhaps — but the holding of that body 
in session longer than usual obviated an^- difficulty, 
for on the return of the witnesses to their homes we 



ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 195 

had them subpoenaed, and that the g-overnor mig-ht 
not be suddenly called away on business that could be 
deferred we had him subpoenaed too, and the grand 
jury investigated the matter with the result that 
Brown was indicted and the g^overnor criticised for 
not exercising more caution in issuing the commis- 
sions to him, or something of that kind. I did not 
see what good the latter did but I suppose it was a 
response to local feeling as the governor at this time 
was not oppressed with popularity in Yankton, but 
there was no love lost, as appeared by the part he 
took during the following winter in the removal of 
the capital from that town. 

After Brown went into hiding on the newspaper 
reports referred to and found that the steps to pro- 
cure his arrest were merely based on tilings made in 
the local land office at Yankton, he returned and sur- 
rendered himself, it was said, on the advice of his 
backers who seemed to have hopes of the success of 
his organization. On his appearance at Yankton to 
g-ive bail he was somewhat chang^ed. One could not 
well discover in him the full black bearded man I had 
met at the hearing in Yankton the summer before. 
He was clean shaven and the disguise was most com- 
plete. I could not for the life of me swear that he 
was the same Brown so far as his appearance went to 
indicate it. I sent the petition of the people of Doug-- 
las county to which I have referred, to Congressman 
Springer. It was presented to the body of which he 
was a member, referred to the committee on territo- 
ries and by that committee referred to the sub-com- 
mittee before which the governor told me he appeared 
and suggested that the matter stand until he could 
see if he could not do something to meet the situation. 

Not long- after, in the early part of the summer of 



1% ORGANIZATION" OF DOUGLAS COUISTTY. 

18S'2, the people of Doug-las countj^, who had increas- 
ed in number that j-ear several hundred, v\^ere suffer- 
ing- from another infliction; horse thieves had beg'un 
to operate among- them and they org-anized themselves 
into a vigilance committee, but failing- to catch the 
thieves, they turned their attention to Brownsdale 
and the Brown org-anization. They advanced ag-ainst 
the enemy under the friendly cover of the darkness of 
nig-ht but, like the horse thieves, the leaders of the 
Brovm g-ang- had fled, and so far as the public has 
known, have never been seen since. The committee, 
however, captured the record books, field notes, blanks 
and stationery, and as one of the members expressed 
it, the "stomp," meaning- the seal used bj' the reg-is- 
ter of deeds and ex-ofiicio county clerk. Brown's son 
— who was also county superintendent of schools that 
did not exist — to give their bogus warrants the ap- 
pearance of respectability. Some time after this the 
field notes were turned over to the surveyor general's 
office and later bought by the county, but the custo- 
dian of the books, blanks and stationery becoming 
alarmed, it was said, dug them up from the hole in 
which he had buried them on the prairie and made a 
bonfire of them. This was the end of the Brov/ns- 
dale organization. 

Later in the summer, at the suggestion of the 
governor, a petition was prepared in accordance with 
the law, and he was ''asked to issue commissions to 
Charles E. Huston, Charles A. Houlton and Ferdi- 
nand Diesterhaupt as county commissioners which he 
did and they completed the org-anization by the ap- 
pointment of the other county officers and located the 
county seat temporarily at Huston, a postoffice on 
Choteau Creek, located not far from the center of the 
county, and adjoining this location they entered a 



ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 197 

quarter section of the g-overnraent land on the advice 
of the g-overnor, I think, on which to build the coun- 
ty building^s and give the people the benefit of the 
growth of the future metropolis, but politics and 
railroad building- upset this plan later. The govern- 
or and myself were at outs after the Yankton gTand 
jury experience and he suggested to the new county 
commissioners, as indications pointed out, not to rec- 
ognize me in future legal proceeding's, and quite nat- 
urally I was indignant. I had traveled with my 
team more than a thousand miles across country and 
had done hundreds of dollars worth of legal service 
to defeat the fraudulent organization and its work, 
for which I received no compensation and expected 
none. I did not take kindly to his sug-gestion and 
when the campaign began for the fall election and a 
new deal in the of&ces, as well as the removal of the 
county seat to Grand View, a hamlet with two or 
three buildings at the geog^raphical center of the 
county, I took an active part. 

That year I was living in Doug-las county, where 
I had taken up a preemption, and practicing law in 
Scotland, thirty five miles away, g-oing- dov/n there 
on Thursdays of each week and returning on Satur- 
days. My wife held the fort during my absence, with 
old Jerry, a little black and tan dog, and a Smith and 
Wesson revolver to aid her in case of emerg-ency, and 
the same v/as true during the absence of Friday and 
myself in 1880, when we were homesteading- in the 
same neighborhood, after she came out in the spring- 
of that year. As the neighbors were but nine in 
number and lived from a half mile to seven miles 
away, her position was not an enviable one on such 
occasions. During- the six months' necessary resi- 
dence on the preemption I traveled about two thous- 



198 OKGANIZATION O'F DOUGLAS COUNTY 

and miles, sometimes in the hottest weather traveling- 
part of the night, and when overtaken by storms, 
picketing my horse and taking shelter with the fleas 
in a sheep skin fur coat kindly furnished me as a bed 
in an adobe house by some hospitable German Rus- 
sian farmer. 

While the number of voters was not large the po- 
litical campaign of that year was as hot as though 
they were as numerous as the mosquitos that then 
swarmed on the virg-in prairies, and in the round up 
we beat the governor's friends by a good majority on 
all the issues, and the county seat went to Grand 
View to be removed a few years later, when the rail- 
road penetrated the county, to the thriving town of 
Armour, In the contest I was asked to particularly 
look after a dozen German Russians in the south east 
part of the county, and their pledge to support the 
Grand View ticket was obtained, but before the elec- 
tion the opposition secured the support of the Yank- 
ton Frie Presse, a German newspaper, which gave 
me a scoring- because of some necessary quick but 
legitimate work at our caucus which was endorsed at 
the convention. I went into the German Russian set- 
tlement the evening" before election and found all my 
friends unsettled as to how the}^ would vote on the 
following day, except one, who had secured a retain- 
er for services from the opposition and some copies of 
the German newspaper referred to. We got them all 
back in line except this man and I left my companion, 
a German friend, to sleep with them and take them to 
the polls bright and early the next morning, which 
he did, and by the time the opposition came to the 
settlement to g"o v^^ith them to vote we had their bal- 
lots in the box twelve miles awaj^ for our ticket. 
Later when the returns of the election arrived at the 



ORGANIZATION OF BOUGLAS COUNTY 1 ,) » 

county seat, an Irishman named Dugan asked Mr, 
Huston, one of the county commissioners, how it was 
and Huston replied ''We're beat bj eleven majority." 
* 'Eleven majority!" said Dug-an, "That aint much,'" 
To which Huston replied "Bui we're beat! we're 
beat!" 

At the time of the first meeting-, in January 1883, 
of the new board of county commissioners chosen at 
that election I went to Grand View^ the place where 
the electors had located the county seat, and present- 
ed the facts constituting- the fraud on the count}- so 
that the entire history of the situation should become 
a part of the record of the county commissioners, as 
it did by their action. Upon this record I secured a 
petition of the commissioners to the leg-islature which 
was to assemble in a short time, asking- for the pas- 
sag-e of a law forbidding the payment or other recog- 
nition of any warrants issued by the Brownsdale or- 
ganization, except upon the mandate of a court of 
record of competent jurisdiction. This meant the 
district or supreme court, and my purpose was to qui- 
et the fears of would-be investors or people who had 
money to loan, as there was much fear that a report- 
ed two hundred thousand dollars of warrants issued 
by the organization referred to might be saddled on 
the count}' by recognition of its officers, even though 
not so intended; and it was almost impossible for the 
people in that county to borrow^ nionej- on the credit 
of their property either real or personal. The bill 
thus framed was presented to members of the legisla- 
tive district of whicli Douglas county was a part and 
among outsiders M. H. Day and Charles T. McCoy, 
who had been criticized for alleged connection with 
the Brownsdale organization, expressed themselves 
as favorable to a bill which would help the people of 



200 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 

the county out of the situation which embarrassed 
them. The bill passed the leg-islature but was ob- 
jected to by (rovernor Ordway solely because it did 
not leg-alise his second organization, and another bill 
was presented to meet his objections, which was en- 
acted by the legislature and approved by him. 

Later — a year or two — Charles T. McCoy had 
been appointed by President Arthur as register or 
receiver of the Aberdeen United States land oflice 
during the vacation of congress, and when the ques- 
tion of his confirmation came up Congressman Hitt 
of Illinois appeared in opposition, but Ordway soon 
took the field in person and raised as an objection 
against the confirmation of McCoy that the bill which 
I have mentioned as first being passed by the legisla- 
ture was in the interests of validating the fraudulent 
warrants of Douglas county. My recollection was 
still fresh of the hardship and suffering I endured in 
riding ninety miles across the prairie in a buggy, 
when it was neither sleighing nor wheeling and the 
thermometer was nineteen degrees below zero, to get 
the work done by the commissioners in the way of 
making up the record I have referred to and a peti- 
tion to the legislature, so quite naturally, I did what 
I could to meet this move of the governor; not that I 
had any interest in McCoy, but a slumbering interest 
in His Excellency on account of the old score, and to 
satisf}^ my indignation ag-ainst him for holding up 
the bill referred to for the purpose he had in view. 
I prepared an affidavit of my own together with one 
for members of the legislature from our district 
which followed the governor's course from beginning 
to end in the Douglas county matter and tended to 
show that his trail was as sinuous as that of a snake 
in the sand, without charging him, or intending to 



ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 201 

charg-e biin, vv'ith dishonesty. These affidavits were 
filed and they struck the gfovernor in a tender spot. 
It was reported he said to McCoy "Why! these affi- 
davits not only exonerate you but they charg-e me 
with corruption. If you will take them from the files 
I will withdraw my opposition and be your friend." 
This was the end of the governor's opposition and 
McCo}" was confirmed. The affidavits did not charg-e 
the g-overnor with corruption. They charged him 
with crookedness. It was the crookedness of a poli- 
tician, which was doubtless indulged in to meet the 
hostile criticism of his connection with the Brown or- 
g-anization by those who were as indifferent to the 
welfare of the people of Douglas county as they were 
anxious to hold the governor up to condemnation. 

About 1888, suits were brought on the Browns- 
dale org-anization warrants which amounted with in- 
terest to something like sixty five thousand dollars. 
The county was represented by ex-Chief Justice Bart- 
lett Tripp, Mr. Tipton, the states attorney, and my- 
self, and we were met by the proposition that each 
warrant shown to bear the sig-nature of the acting 
chairman of the county board, Walter H. Brown,' 
that of the county clerk, his son Alfred Brown, and 
the county seal, made a presumptively valid claim 
against the county for the amount expressed therein 
and interest at the rate of seven per cent from the 
date at which it was presented to the covmty treasur- 
er and not paid for want of funds as shown on its 
back, and to defeat this claim we must show that 
each particular warrant thus proved was given with- 
out consideration, but we overcame this by showing 
what the county had received of value, accounting for 
the warrants issued for it, and proving that nothing 
else of value had been received by the county or done 



202 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 

for it. Hence all other warrants were fraudulent and 
without consideration, except those issued to the offi- 
cers of the org-anization and as to those we proved 
they were mere conspirators in what they did and 
therefore entitled to no pay for their work. The 
warrants were not neg"Otiable paper in the sense of 
our law, hence they were open to the same defense in 
subsequent purchaser's hands as thoug'h sued on b}' 
the parties to whom tbey were issued. These suits 
were tried before Judge Haney at Mitchell, and on 
one of the juries was Major Green, who as an officer 
in the United States Marine Corps captured John 
Brown at Harper's Ferry before the civil war. In 
this litig-ation we defeated after a ten yeai's' strugfg-le, 
including- interest, claims amounting- to about sixty 
thousand dollars. If there were any more of the al- 
leged two hundred thousand dollars afloat they 
have long since been barred by the statute of 
limitations. Too much credit cannot be given 
in these cases to Judge Tripp for his able, exhaustive 
and convincing presentation of the lav/, so vital to 
success, whose views the court adopted. The settlers 
of the county to whom credit is due for gathering- the 
facts without which we could not have succeeded, 
were Michael Donley, Charles K. Huston, Richard 
Johnson, L. J. Manbeck, William Palmer, Robert 
Sawyer and Edgar Berry. 

What I have said about Governor Ordway is not 
intended to reflect on his honesty. I believe he acted 
honestly in issuing the commissions as county com- 
missioners on the facts presented to him, although 
the Brownsdale g"ang and its sympathizers have held 
otherwise. He disag-reed with me in the method of 
procedure which he had a rig-ht to do. He tried to 
have his way in the contest and I tried to have mine. 



ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY 203 

We are even. The g-overnor was a great lighter as 
his numerous enemies in the then territory, who have 
not jet joined the g-reat majority in the realm of 
shadows, can testify, but he did not alwa3's fight ac- 
cording to the Marquis of Queenbury rules; if he 
could hit the other fellow below the belt it was safe 
to figure on his not neglecting the opportunity. 

Although I had abandoned the project of making 
a fortune in raising- sheep in Texas, I had never fully 
recovered from the fever for eng-aging in that busi- 
ness, so in the summer of 1881 I boug-ht a flock of 
sheep for three dollars a head and turned them over 
to an American farmer to be kept on shares. I 
thoug-ht I was doing him a favor. He put a mort- 
gagee on his farm to build a stable to shelter them 
and in the following spring- twenty per cent of them 
died of old ag'e, he was glad to g-o out of the busi- 
ness, but I could not get out. I then turned them 
over to a German farmer with similar success. One 
da}' I passed his place and seeing a barrel of salt 
standing near the sheep stable, I said to him "Salt is 
good for sheep," to which he replied "Oh ya! Saltz! 
Saltz! immer Saltz. Saltz ish g-oot. Saltz und vasser 
mak fat," which reduced to English is "Salt, salt 
always salt. Salt is good. Salt and water makes 
fat." In the meantime the dealer I boug-lit the sheep 
of called on me and convinced me that I was on the 
high road to wealth. All I needed was thorough bred 
males, so I gave him twenty five dollars for one as 
an experiment and the next year I sold the lot in- 
cluding the thoroughbred for a dollar and a half a 
head. Later I tried cattle and swine on a more exten- 
sive scale with a tenant to whom I had rented a large 
farm with better success but between the black leg, 
cholera, threats of Texas fever and accidents, I finally 



204 ORGANIZATION OF DOUGLAS COUNTY. 

came to the conclusion that the old adage of "Shoemak- 
er stick to jour last" was good enough for me^ to go 
by, in the future, even though the law practice did 
not threaten to submerge me with a golden shower 
b}^ way of compensation. 

Before I leave the field of my farming experience 
in Douglas county altogether, which I remember with 
fond recollection, there is one other phase of it wor- 
thy of mention because it was even more striking 
than that of the sheep industry as a financial under- 
taking. I had been told that I could grow onions 
with great success on newly broken prairie ground so 
I invested ten dollars in seed, prepared the soil with 
conscientious care, sowed the seed and harrowed it 
in, but as a return for my investment and labor I 
didn't get an onion. I don't believe Horace Greely 
in his wonderful farming ever beat that experienc e. 



CHAPTKR XXV. 



STORIES OP EARLY I,AW PRACTICE. 



From pioneers in South Dakota I have heard 
some interesting- tales of the practice of law in the 
early days of the first settlers and among- them the 
following-: 

After the jury had retired to consider their ver- 
dict in the first case tried in the Bon Homme county 
district court the defendant sent his hired man with a 
jug- of whiskey to take into the jury room to se- 
cure the verdict, and he succeeded. 

On another occasion when the United States 
court was held at Fort Randall, the marshal delayed 
the proceeding-s of the court by not returning- from an 
official mission as promptly as he should, but when 
he came back he took some greenbacks out of his 
pocket explaining- to the court that the cause of his 
delay was the time spent in a poker g-ame where 
he won this money down at the mouth of Choteau 
Creek, offered the presiding- judg-e half of it which 
was accepted with the remark "For this I'll let you 
off." 

In the Yankton district the presiding- judg-e 
in the early days was a g-ood carpenter but no 
lawyer. He is said to have adopted the practice 
of making- notes of the leg-al questions that were to 
come before him and fastening- them in the inside of 
his hat so that when he placed it bottom side up on 



20& STORIES OF HARLV I,AW PKACTrCK 

the bertch before him the notes would be in plain 
view. He was called "Old Necessit}-" because he 
knew no law. On one occasion a presiding- judg-e of 
that district— it may have been the one above men- 
tioned — was on the bench when a case in which one 
of his associates of the supreme court was a party 
and a question coming- up which he did not know how 
to decide, he turned to that party and asked: "Judge 
Brooking-s, if you were on the bench how would you 
decide that question?" 

But the hig-her courts did not enjoy a monopoly 
of such interestini^ peculiarities. It is told of a jus- 
tice of the peace in Bon Homme county, who believed 
people should settle their difficulties and not resort to 
litig-ation, that a case coming- to him on a cold win- 
ter's day when a bliszard was rag'ing- he immediately 
donned his buffalo coat tied a rope around it to keep 
it close to his body and established his court in an 
old building- used as a corn crib, throug-h which the 
storm pelted him and his audience. It goes without 
saj^ing- that he froze that case out. 

In the vicinity of Olivet in Hutchinson county, 
away back in the early seventies, there was an Irish 
settlement and as times were very dull and they had 
nothing" doing to entertain the community, its mem- 
bers sometimes engaged in suits before a justice of 
the peace; Eden Maxwell and his uncle Henry, both 
interesting characters whom the old settlers will re- 
member, usuall}^ acted as the law3'ers. Eden's client 
was beaten in a case and the sheriff took his only cow 
on execution to pay the costs. Eden was well ac- 
quainted with Judg-e Brookings of the Yankton dis- 
trict, in which Hutchinson county was located, so he 
prepared a paper for that judge to sign ordering the 
sheriff to give up the cow and went down to get him 



STOKLES OF EARLY LAW PRACTICE 207 

to sig-n it, but when he reached Yankton Judg-e 
Brooking-s was out as Judg-e Shannon had succeeded 
him. Brooking-s expressed his regret that he no 
long-er had the power to sig-n it but advised Eden to 
call on Judg-e Shannon, a g-entleman of considerable 
dig-nity and integTit}', and let him know how he came 
out. Eden acting- on his advice called on the nev/ 
judg-e and read the paper to him, explaining- that his 
client was poor and could not afford to hire a lawyer 
to make out papers to claim his exemptions, that he 
called the paper a mandamus and if the judge would 
just put his name down there, indicating the place on 
the paper where he desired it, he would make a copy 
of it, give it to the sheriff and he would give up the 
poor man's cow. Judge Shannon turned on him his 
eyes gleaming and his face ablaze with indignation 
and saluted him with "Sir! what do you take me 
for!" and Eden left as though he had been shot out 
of a cannon, even forgetting to call on his friend 
Brookings to tell him how he came out. 

In the early days the district court was held in a 
sod church at Olivet. At one of Judge Shannon's 
terms considerable difficulty was met with in the ex- 
amination of the members of the jury to learn wheth- 
er they were competent. The judge intervened in the 
examination of a couple of the jurors, one of whom 
he asked whether he was a citizen of the United 
States but he could get no satisfactory answer; final- 
ly he asked him if he was born in the United States, 
to which the witness answered "Naw sir." "Where 
were you born?" "In Michigan." An Irishman was 
the next on which the judge tried his skill. He an- 
swered no to the question as to whether he was born 
in the United States and as to where he was born 
"In ould Ireland be J— s." 



208 STORIES OF EARLY LAW PRACTICE 

At this term of court among- the lav/jers present 
were Hon. Bartlett Tripp, Plon. S. L. Spink, Hon. 
John Gamble, Hon. L. B. French, Hon. E. G. Smith 
and others prominent in the profession, as able a body 
of lawyers as you would be likelj^ to lind, for the 
number, attending- any trial court in the North-west, 
and as the jud^e had been compelled to discharg-e 
several Germans from the panel because they were 
total strangfers to the Kng-lish language he turned to 
the bar after his last examination v/ith "Gentlemen 
what shall we do with this Irishman?" 

In the trial of Harvey Knowlton, or "Rebel 
George," before Judge Shannon at Yankton in the 
early eig-hties on a charg-e of murder he was defended 
by the Hon. Bartlett Tripp and prosecuted by Hon. 
Hugh J. Campbell, United States attorney of the ter- 
ritory. The trial, a noted one, was hotly contested 
on both sides and the judg-e seemed to lean to the 
prosecution so much that the defendant took a strong 
dislike to him. Knowlton was convicted of nian- 
slaug'hter, the supreme court reversed the conviction 
and he was ag-ain tried and acquitted. Judge Shan- 
non had been seeking a third term about this time 
but had failed and Judg-e Kdgerton was appointed as 
his successor. When he announced to Knowlton af- 
ter his acquital "You are discharged sir," Knowlton 
instantly replied "So are you G — d d — m you." 
Years afterward Knowlton was convicted in the state 
of Washington for a gold brick job and sentenced to 
a term of several years in the penitentiary and Judge 
Gordon, formerly of Aberdeen, wrote the opinion of 
the supreme court affirming the conviction. I have 
since heard that Knowlton has entered the vineyard 
of the Lord as an evangelist. 



CHAPTER XXVL 



SOMK CURIOSITIES. 



After I g"ave up actual farming- 1 returned to the 
practice of law and my business extended into Bon 
Homme, Hutchinson and adjoining- counties. It was 
not extensive but oftentimes interesting- and amusing. 
From the fall of 1881 for about four years Judge 
Edgerton was chief justice of the territory and there- 
after until the states of North and South Dakota were 
carved out of it- and admitted into the Union Judg-e 
Tripp held that position, and they presided during- 
their respective terms in our district. 

In the summer of 1884 the former held a term of 
court at Olivet at which the present Judge Smith ap- 
peared on one side of a civil case and I on the other. 
It was an appeal from a justice of the peace and my 
client was the appellant. Objection was made that 
the justice had not filed the appeal papers within fif- 
teen days from the time the appeal was taken with 
the clerk of court, therefore it should be dismissed. 
The judge was inclined to dismiss the appeal but in- 
stead of doing that he gave me all the time I desired 
to look into the matter. It was never called up after 
that so it is still pending and not long ago our su- 
preme court rendered a decision that seems favorable 
to my side of the case, but my client is dead, Judge 
Edgerton is dead and opposing counsel is our presid- 



210 SOME CURIOSITIES 

ing- judg-e. It has been a question in my mind wheth- 
er I oug-ht to ask -Judge Smith to call in another 
judg"e to try this case or wait until he and his client 
and I meet Judge Edgerton and my client on the oth- 
er shore. 

At the term of court referred to I defended one 
unfortunate fellow against the charg-e of horse steal- 
ing and another charged with burglary. The former 
was a young* clean looking- son of a minister of the 
g"Ospel with his hair parted in the middle and the 
latter the ug-liest appearing- specimen of humanity I 
ever looked upon. I was quite sure I could acquit the 
fellow charg-ed with horse stealing and the judge was 
inclined to that view also, but the jury convicted him. 
Horse stealing is not popular in a new country. The 
alleg-ed burglar on whose feet the prosecution claimed 
it found boots stolen in the burglary, and dress goods 
stolen at the same time in a hay stack a few hundred 
yards from his house, I managed to convince ten of the 
jurors had not been proven guilty and a disagreement 
ended the case against him. After the trial was over 
the judge said "If I was going to bet on the acquittal 
of either of those men I would have taken the one 
charged with horse stealing," but he and the district 
attorney were too much for me in that «ase as the 
latter drew a clean cut instruction, which the judge 
gave, telling- the jury that it was incumbent on the 
defendant to show that when he took the horse which 
we claimed was merely a trespass, he did not take 
him with intent to steal. He abandoned the horse 
after he had ridden him to Marion Junction and 
whether he did so because he had used him as much 
as he desired or because he was afraid the sheriff, 
who was on his trail, might overhaul him, was the 
question on which his guilt or innocence hung. I 



SOME CURIOSITIES 211 

had a serious conviction that the g-ood looks of the 
horse thief and the ug-liness of the other fellow were 
the most important elements in the trials. The for- 
mer had the appearance of a dude which he mig-ht 
have avoided; the latter, like Cain of old, had been 
marked by the hand of God and his ugfliness may 
have appealed to the jurors ag^ainst a further inflic- 
tion of punishment. 

While Judg-e Edg-erton was holding a term of 
court in Bon Homme, not long before the county seat 
was moved to Tyndall, an elderly German Eussian 
who had been indicted for rape was brought into 
court. He was my client and I felt sorr}^ for him 
when I saw the judge look at him. It seemed to me 
that there was twenty five years in the penitentiary 
in that look. I made up my mind, however, to do 
the best I could for him. I suspected the case was 
merely one of blackmail. We took a change of venue 
to Yankton county and when his trial came on I had 
him surrounded by his friends, some of the most 
prominent citizens of that county. On the cross ex- 
amination I succeeded in breaking- down the prose- 
cuting witness but I went on with the defense in the 
matter of showing what a nice man my client was. 
After a v/hile the judg-e called me up to the bench 
and told me if I would stop he would g-ive my client 
a new trial if the jury convicted him to which I ob- 
jected unless he would tell the jury to acquit and if 
it did not obey orders he would agree to g-ive us a 
new trial. "No," said he, "I can not do that but I 
will advise an acquittal and if the jury does not act 
on my advice I will give you a new trial." The jury 
acquitted the defendant in the time it took to retire 
and draw up a verdict. 

In the winter of 1884 and 1885, about the last of 



212 some; curiosities 

December, Judg-e Edg-erton came up to Olivet to hold 
the first term of court in the new court house there. 
It was nearly dark when he started out in a sleigh 
from Scotland to make the trip and I joined him. 
The party consisted of himself, the court stenogra- 
pher, Hon. Robert J. Gamble, myself and John Petrie, 
sheriff of Bon Homme county, who furnished the 
team. The snow was deep and drifting so that when 
Y.^e arrived on the bluff bordering^ the Jim River Val- 
ley it had covered the trail and I went ahead to locate 
the road and pilot our party; when we came within a 
mile of the county seat, the horses g-ave out and 
the judge hired a German Russian farmer to come 
to our relief. 

The next morning- about S o'clock the weather 
was intensely cold and a furious blizzard was coming- 
on, but a little thing- like that was merely an inspira- 
tion for a prompt administration of justice to Judge 
Edgerton. At the hour named he presented himself 
at the outer door of the court house and by energ'etic 
kicking broug-ht Frank Eisenmann, the reg-ister of 
deeds, from his sleeping- apartments in the jury 
room to the door in his underclothing- and the judg-e 
ordered a fire built in the court room and mounted 
the judg-ment seat. The solitary prisoner held in 
the jail was promptly indicted for rape convicted and 
sentenced and the court adjourned with the close of 
the blizzard by noon of the following- day; he was 
sent to the penitentiary for twenty five years and six 
months. The by standers could understand the twen- 
ty five years but not the six months; they finally con- 
cluded that humane considerations moved the judg-e 
in this matter and that he v/anted to turn the prison- 
er out on g-rass at the end of his term. I think this 
was Judge Edg-erton's last term in Hutchinson coun- 



SOME CURIOSITIES 213 

ty. He was succeeded bj Judg-e Tripp during; the 
following" year. 

Before this time a lawyer of considerable energy 
and ability by the name of True located at Olivet aftd 
the law business beg"an to look up. He was an un- 
compromising- collector and made man}^ enemies by 
his industry and success. People had not been ac- 
customed to his style of rushing- business and disbar- 
ment proceeding-s were instituted ag-ainst him. Judg-e 
Tripp gave him the choice to be tried by a referee or 
a jury and he elected to be tried by the latter. The 
prejudice and the evidence against him were strong 
and he was convicted. Later a large number of bal- 
lots were found in the jury room — the jury were 
mostly Germans — and all of them were "Gainst der 
True." The friends of True claimed that the jur}^ 
took the oath "a true verdict to give according to the 
law and the evidence," to mean that they must give 
a verdict against True. 

At one of the terms in Hutchinson county I was 
defending a German on a promissory note g-iven for a 
threshing machine. Our defense was failure of con- 
sideration in this that the machine was warranted to 
do good work and it failed to do so. We had our evi- 
dence about all in and I told my client I thought we 
would be beaten and we might as well let the plain- 
tiff take judgment. He replied "all right. Yoost as 
you say, arber I hafe von more vitness." "Who is 
he?" "Father Schneider." "What does he know?" 
"He knows more as anybody." Father was sworn and 
took the stand. His mental org-anization at its best 
was not strong and he seemed to be dazed. I went at 
him with an interpreter and he began. After the in- 
terpreter was loaded with his tale he cried out "halt!" 
Then to start the witness again, he said to him; 



314 SOME CURIOSITIES 

"veider" 'Vhat else" and he beg-an with ^'Spa- 
ther," later, and continued his story so that it 
ran '*veider/' "spather," "-halt" until he had deliv^er- 
ed himself, keeping- time with one of his feet while 
the larg-e German audience was convulsed with laug-h- 
ter. The court intimated that he mig-lit be compelled 
to hold the witness in' contempt if he did not dispense 
with his time keeping- part of the exhibition. The 
burden of his story was that while the}' were thresh- 
ing- so many stacks of grain they had so man}- men 
who ate so many sheep, ducks, g-eese and other poul- 
try and this was the way he took to show the length 
of time they worked and that the machine did not 
work well. 

In the course of my travels in the Indian country 
I met a lady friend whom I had long- known and who 
was then superintendent of an Indian school, and 
some of the stories she told me of her experience with 
the children of the noble red men were instructing- 
and amusing-, one of which was of a son of Sitting- 
Bull, who came to her school after that chief had re- 
tired to Canada to put himself beyond the jurisdic- 
tion of the United States throug-h fear of being- call- 
ed to account for the Custer massacre. The boy was 
about fourteen years old but so pinched in appearance 
from the hardship he had endured that he looked 
much older. He was a blanket Indian. That is, 
when in full dress, except in cold weather, he wore 
only a clout. He presented himself to her for a suit 
of clothes and she first g-ave him a vest which he 
promptly put on without a stitch of other clothing- 
and when given the remainder of his wardrobe he 
asked her for a servant to carry them home. Could 
a specimen of civilized aristocracy have done more to 
show his thoroug-hbred quality? To teach the young- 



SOME CURIOSITIES 215 

Indians not to use bad languag^e she was in the habit 
of washing- out their mouths when found indulg-ing- 
in it, and the practice proved most effective. The 
joung- Indians seriouslj^ believed that this method of 
policing- their mouths had a cleansing- effect on their 
moral characters. 

An interesting- explosion which occurred one day 
in the circuit court of Knox county on a trial of an 
important replevin suit, the development of which I 
was watching-, but which I overlooked recording- 
when I was writing- my recollections of that section, 
was the following-: There was a witness on the stand 
who was under the severe fire of a cross examination 
by a lawyer who was untiring- in that line. The wit- 
ness was an unusually larg-e man and the lawyer was 
a little fellow named Humphrey. The former was 
one of the substantial farmers of the county, and a 
man of considerable intellig'ence. When pushed to a 
point where he was cornered and could not answer 
without g-iving- away something- the lawyer was after 
and much in need of on his side of the case, he de- 
clared: "I refuse to remember." He was an honest 
witness; he told the truth. The usual way to g-et 
out of such a position is, "I don't remember." 

One of the g-reatest examples of this in the record 
of jury trials in America was in the case of a noted 
lecturer ag-ainst an eloquent and disting-uished divine 
in New York man3^ years ag-o. Whenever the mutu- 
al friend of the parties and one of them would testify 
to a certain state of facts which should be within the 
knowledg-e of all of them, and were damag-ing- to the 
other party, his answer was so uniformly "I do not 
recollect" that it became one of the most striking- 
features of that remarkable case. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

GOVERNOR ORDWAY ON THE WAR PATH. 

Governor Ordwaj was not long* in the territory 
before he went on the war path and his earliest cam- 
paign was ag-ainst the braves of the territorial legis- 
lature who were banded together to retain the capi- 
tal at Yankton and for other meritorious purposes. 
The members from the north half of the territory 
were in this combination although two years later 
they were in the camp of the g^overnor. The war 
began with the veto of the g"overnor and continued 
throug"liout the session during which bills to repeal 
the banking laws of 1879; to create the county of 
Grig-g-s; to create the county of Walsh; to add two 
thousand five hundred dollars to the yearly salary of 
the judg-e of the first judicial district; to authorize 
the county commissioners of Minnehaha county to is- 
sue bonds to complete the county jail and for other 
purposes; to authorize the creation and construction 
of a court house and jail for Pembina county; to 
authorize the same for Richland county; to divide the 
county of Grand Forks into five commissioner dis- 
tricts; to fix the boundaries of the county seat of Rich- 
land county and to g-rant the rig-ht to establish and 
maintain a wag-on bridge across the Red River of the 
North at the city of Grand Forks were vetoed, and 
all of them passed over the vetoes. Hon. John Gam- 



GOVERNOR ORDWAY ON THE WAR PATH 217 

ble, Hon. L. B, French and Hon. Samuel Boyles of 
Yankton were members of the leg-islature. Also Hon, 
M. H. Day of Bon Homme county, Hon, Georg-e 
Walsh of Grand Forks, and if Hon. Jud LaMoure of 
Pembina was not, his power was equal to his pres- 
ence. Those who knew these g-entlemen did not ex- 
pect to see them quietly led in the trail of the new 
o-overnor and they were not disappointed. 

After the g-overnor's repulse at Yankton he next 
appeared in the field in the winter of 1881 and 1882, 
in the city of Washington, to fight for the reappoint- 
ment of Hugh J. Campbell as United States attorney, 
the defeat of Charles T. McCoy for United States 
marshal and incidentally to advise the sub committee 
of the house committee on territories to defer consid- 
eration of the petition of the people of Douglas county 
until he could return and do something for them. At 
the scalp dance on the governor^'s return he congrat- 
ulated himself that he had defeated McCoy and se- 
cured the re-appointment of "that great man Judge 
Hugh J. Campbell," and he intimated that the bill 
before congress for the creation and admission of the 
state of South Dakota might be materially improved. 
The indications were that he was then in harmony 
with the people who desired that a state be created 
out of the south half of the territory, but if this was 
true he had a change of heart before the close of the 
next session of the territorial legislature. 



C*HAPTER XXVIII. 

FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION. 

The Territory of Dakota was broug-ht into ex- 
istence in 1861, with a population of about four thous- 
and whites, and included the territory now in North 
and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. In 
1863, Idaho was taken from it; in 1864, Montana, and 
in 1867, Wyoming-. With the building- of the North- 
ern Pacific railroad as far west as Bismarck a senti- 
ment quite strong- and active in the northern part of 
the territory called for the creation of the Territory 
of Pembina out of the north half of the territory of 
Dakota, with the forty-sixth parallel of latitude as 
its southern boundary, and in the early seventies, 
under the instructions of the territorial leg-islature, 
Hon. Moses Armstrong-, the territorial deleg-ate in 
cong-ress, introduced a bill in that body to create such 
a territory. The matter was agitated from time to 
time thereafter and was not without effect in creating 
a sentiment in the south half of the territory favor- 
able to its organization as the state of South Dakota 
and its early admission into the Union. 

In the summer of 1882 a bill for that purpose was 
pending in congress and on the 21st of June a mass 
convention to further the project was held at Canton, 
the membership of which, on its organization, con- 
sisted of eleven from Turner county, fourteen from 
Clay, two from Beadle, two from Hanson, eleven from 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 219 

Yankton, one hundred and forty nine from Lincoln, 
four from Moody and one who represented Dickey, 
Brown, Spink, LaMoure and Day counties. Among^ 
the leading- spirits of the convention Rev. Wilraot 
Whitfield, Rev. Joseph Ward and Hon. Hugh J. 
Campbell were most prominent. 

The committee on permanent organization, of 
which Rev. Joseph Ward was chairman, reported, 
among- other thing's, in favor of forming- a permanent 
organization to be known as "The Dakota Citizens' 
Leag-ue" and recommended that an executive commit- 
tee to have full power to make arrangements for all 
subsequent meeting-s be appointed and the report was 
adopted. 

The committee on school and public lands made 
the following- report which was adopted: 

That this convention memorialize congress that 
we justly fear that waste and neglect, if not fraud, 
may affect the manag-ement of the public school lands 
reserved for the proposed state by the United States 
to be held and disposed of in trust for the public 
schools. They find this fear fully justified by the 
history of the manag-ement of these lands in other 
public land states, from Ohio to California, in the 
earliest days of statehood amid the pressure of varied 
duties and interests, in the location and org-anization 
of other institutions in which special localities are 
affected when combinations are easily made oppor- 
tunity afforded for neglect, waste and fraud against 
which nothing- is wholly effective but fundamental 
law, either in the enabling- act or in the constitution. 
Left to local control in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and oth- 
er states in early days a g-reat part of the value 
of these lands was lost; and vast tracts and values 
were sacrificed in California, Wisconsin and other 



220 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION' 

states througfh different combinations, and fraud- 
ulent schemes. The history of these losses by neg- 
lect, imperfect laws and fraudulent combinations is 
not often fully set forth in the public records of the 
states, but it is well known some of the young-er 
states like Minnesota and Nebraska have profited by 
the experience of their older sisters, but losses have 
occurred there which would have been saved by defi- 
nite limitations upon the trust. 

We further show that at present in Dakota Ter- 
ritory larg-e numbers of the sections so reserved are 
occupied in part by settlers and other trespassers. 
Several of these entire sections are cultivated year by 
year b}^ capitalists as parts of g^reat wheat farms^ 
each year deteriorating- seriously the value of the 
lands and threatening- the integrity of the state by 
the political influence and combinations of the tres- 
passers with others who desire to speculate in these 
lands. The permanent welfare of the commonwealth 
is thus endang-ered in its most vital interests. In an 
era of land speculation accompanying- the building- of 
railroads and towns and when all forms of specula- 
tion are active, the school lands are receiving- the at- 
tention of the rich and poor alike throug-h various 
hopes and plans. 

Ag-ainst the evil consequences of these g-rowing" 
schemes and plain facts we urg-e that the cong-ress of 
the United States be memorialized to eventually pro- 
tect the new state by definite provisions in the ena- 
bling- act which shall prevent the sale of more than 
one section in each township until after the period of 
ten years from the admission of the state. That con- 
g-ress in adopting- an enabling- act make provision that 
no school lands shall, within fifteen 3^ears, in any 
event be sold for less than ten dollars per acre. That 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 221 

previous to said lands being offered for sale they shall 
be appraised by a board of appraisers to consist of 
such a number as congress may direct, at such value 
as such board may think the same actually worth; 
that three months public notice of the time and place 
of sale shall be given by publication in two newspa- 
pers, one of which shall be at the capital of the state, 
and the other such newspaper as is published nearest 
the land offered for sale. At the time and place so 
set for said sale said lands shall be sold at auction to 
the highest bidder but the price for which said lands 
shall be sold shall in no event be less than the ap- 
praised value thereof. The terms of said sale shall 
be as follows: All sales shall be upon thirty years 
time upon bonds payable to the state, bearing a low 
rate of interest to be fixed by the constitutional 
convention payable each year in advance. Fifteen 
per cent of the purchase price and one year's inter- 
est in advance to be paid by the purchaser at the 
time of the issuance of the certificate of sale as here- 
inafter provided. If at any time after five years from 
the date of the purchase the purchaser should desire 
to pay for said land he shall have the privilege of so 
doing provided he pays in addition to the price of 
said land such additional interest as may be stipulat- 
ed by the constitutional convention, to protect the 
fund from loss during the process of reloaning. Cer- 
tificates of sale shall be issued forfeitable to the state. 
Upon failure of the purchaser to comply with the 
provisions thereof, which said certificate shall be trans- 
ferable, and which shall provide that upon the pay- 
ment of the purchase money and the interest as here- 
inbefore provided a patent for such lands shall issue 
to the holder of said certificate. 

These provisions will give the state an immedi- 



222 FORMING A STATK CONSTITUTION 

ate fund, which will increase steadily for manj years 
as the population advances. After the policy of the 
state is thus settled no dang-er can come to these in- 
terests upon the expiration of these limitations. Rep- 
resenting- the expressed wish of a large majority of 
the people of the proposed state, seeing the dangers 
about us on every hand, and learning- from the his^ 
tory of other states, and holding- education as the 
great institution of the state — the promoter and secu- 
rity of liberty, law and good government — we res- 
pectfully and most earnestly urg-e that cong-ress will 
place these safeg-uards, or strong-er ones, around the 
new state until its now separate and new communi- 
ties shall have become one commonwealth in these 
g-reat inheritances and of one purpose in the right 
execution of these trusts. 

We further submit that experience in this now 
rapidly developing commonwealth, as well as the re- 
port of the surveyor general of Dakota, shows that 
much of the public land is being squatted upon in ad- 
vance of public surveys b}^ settlers and the school 
lands thus greatly endang-ered. We therefore urge 
that congress make additional appropriations for the 
surveys of the public lands in this territory that said 
lands may be surveyed in advance of settlement. 
Rev. Wilmot Whitfield was the chairman of this 
committee, but the nature and characteristics of the 
report point to General Beadle, who was then territo- 
rial superintendent of education, as its author. He 
was deeply interested in and thoroughly informed on 
the subject. 

The committee on name, boundaries and memorial 
to congress, regarding the number of delegates to the 
constitutional convention, submitted the following re- 
port, which was adopted: 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 223 

Resolved, that it is the sense of this convention 
and we believe it to be the g-eneral wish of the peo- 
ple of this territory, south of the forty-sixth parallel 
of north latitude, that the north boundary of the 
state of Dakota be the forty-sixth parallel, the other 
boundaries remaining- as they now are. That we 
strong-ly deprecate the addition of any part of our 
territory to the state of Nebraska and that tke name 
of our new state shall be Dakota without prefix or 
any addition whatever. * * * * 

Other committees made important and valuable 
reports but those g-iven here seem to me to be more 
closely connected with the work of making- a state 
constitution which followed. 

The following named gentlemen were appointed 
as an executive committee: Revs. Wilmot "Whitfield 
and Joseph Ward, Yankton county; N. C. Nash, Lin- 
coln; S. Freye Andrews, Turner; W. C. Bower, Min- 
nehaha; F. B. Foster, Hanson, and Rev. J. B. Hines, 
Union county. 

In its address the convention urged the people to 
organize leagues to unite themselves for self protec- 
tion; to secure in the constitution appropriate arti- 
cles to limit taxation to a very moderate rate; to re- 
strain counties, townships, towns and state leg-isla- 
tures from incurring- extravag-ant debts, and from in- 
■ curring- any debts without providing- the means for 
paying the debt in the enactment creating- it; to se- 
cure in the constitution the most rigid and guarded 
provisions for the safety of the school lands and 
school funds; to secure the punishment by the sever- 
est penalties possible of any tampering with or fraud 
upon this sacred fund; to take the sense of the people 
on a prohibitory liquor clause; to secure the election 
as delegates to the constitutional convention the best 



224 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

men of the several communities, pledg-ed to sup- 
port these and kindred measures. ***** 

In war it has been observed that indifferent iigfht- 
ers become great soldiers bj long" continued service 
not unmixed with disaster, and the same is sometimes 
true of political leaders. Governor Ordway's experi- 
ence seems to have proven this to be a fact, for bene- 
fiting- by his defeat in the legislature of 1881, he suc- 
cessfully led its combination of 1883, which created 
a number of new and unnecessary territorial institu- 
tions, made unusually larg-e appropriations, put the 
capital on wheels to be hawked over the territory and 
knocked off to the hig-hest bidder, and aroused public 
sentiment ag^ainst carpetbag- g-overnors and in favor 
of the State of South Dakota as it never was aroused 
before. 

One of the first moves after the leg-islature had 
adjourned was to hold an indig-nation meeting" at Sioux 
Falls to denounce the g"overnor and I was on a com- 
mittee there, with Major A. G. Kellam, later one of 
the supreme court judg"es of South Dakota, and others, 
to frame a denunciation that would do justice to the 
occasion, relieve us from the pressure of our rig"hteous 
wrath and help the rest of the gfathering- out in a 
similar way, but a better move to meet the situation 
was the call by the executive committee of "The Da- 
kota Citizens' Leag"ue" on March 12th, 1883, for a 
preliminary constitutional convention at Huron as 
follows: 

"The undersig"ned who were appointed a com- 
mittee by a convention of the people of Dakota, held 
at Canton June 21st, 1882, for the purpose and with 
authority to call a convention of the people at the city 
of Huron at such time as they should designate, to 
consult upon such steps as may be rigfht, and needful 



TERMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 225 

to the public welfare to take in reference to an organ- 
ization as a state, believing that the time has come 
for the people to move in this matter, do hereby set 
forth to the people of Dakota their reasons for this 
action and for the follov/ing- call for said convention. 

We ask the serious attention of the people to the 
following' facts: 

1st. That congress, though earnestly thereto by 
our people requested, and although it is admitted that 
the people of Dakota, south of the forty-sixth parallel 
of latitude do possess the requisite population and re- 
sources for statehood, has failed to provide for a con- 
stitutional convention for Dakota or for the division 
of the same on said parallel, as the wishes and inter- 
ests of the people unanimously have demanded. 

2nd. That the last territorial legislature by a 
majority of both houses yielding to the reasonable 
demand of the people, did pass an act as they had 
full authority to do, calling- a constitutional conven- 
tion to be held in December, 1883, and providing the 
money and machinery therefor, but that said act has 
failed to become a law by the witholding of the as- 
sent of the governor. 

3d. The enormous appropriations made by the 
last legislature, agg-regating as much as $400,000, 
demonstrate the fact that in self defense of their 
property and interests, the people must seek a more 
responsible form of government, and that right 
speedily. 

4th. That the people of Dakota have an un- 
doubted right and authority to act for themselves in 
the premises, independently of congress or the legis- 
lature. Ten states of the Union have thus acted, 
and formed their constitutions without a prior act of 
congress, and have been admitted into the Union un- 



226 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

der said constitutions so formed. These states are 
Vermont, 1791; Kentucky, 1792; Tennessee, 1796; 
Maine, 1820; Arkansas, 1835; Michigan, 1837; Flor- 
ida, 1855; Iowa, 1846; Kansas, 18bl; California, 1849. 
It rests with the people of Dakota themselves to 
say, when and with what boundaries and constitu- 
tion they shall become a state. Cong'ress never has 
and never will refuse to admit a sovereign state into 
the Union when it has the population and resources 
requisite therefor, and presents a state constitution, 
republican in form, for its approval. The people of 
Dakota are not dependent either on cong-ress or the 
state legislature, or the governor to decide where and 
how they shall present their petition for admission. 
The means, the money and the requisite machinery 
for action are all at your disposal. The only ques- 
tion is, "Do the people of Dakota so will?" 

We are in receipt of communications from all 
parts of the territory urging us to issue this call and 
saying if we do not the people will move in this mat- 
ter through other organizations. Therefore to give 
expression to the will of the people, and if such be 
their pleasure to provide for taking steps toward the 
organization of a state government, and for present- 
ing the state of Dakota fully organized with a state 
government at the next congress; we do hereby by 
virtue of authority vested in us, call upon the people 
of Dakota south of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude 
in their several counties to elect delegates to. meet in 
state convention at the city of Huron, on Tuesday, 
the 19th day of June next, there to consider the ques- 
tion, do the people of Dakota desire that immediate 
steps be taken toward forming a state constitution 
and to take such action thereon as to them may 
seem fit? 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 



227 



We recommend that such elections be held by all 
the qualified electors of each county without dintinc- 
tion of party. 

We further recommend that all other issues be 
ig-nored by this convention and that no question be 
considered except the one above stated. And to this 
end we recommend that all the special issues acted 
upon by the Canton convention as to temperance and 
other matters be reserved for future and separate ac- 
tion, by the friends of such measures, and that the 
action of the convention be strictly confined to the 
single issue, should Dakota take immediate steps to 
become a state? 

The committee recommend that the convention 
consist of four hundred and twelve delegates, who 
shall be appointed among- the several counties as fol- 
lows, to- wit: 



Aurora 8 

Beadle 10 

Bon Homme 16 

Brookings 16 

Brown 6 

Brule 8 

Clark 4 

Charles Mix 4 

Clay 12 

Codington 12 

Custer 4 

Davison 12 

Day 4 Hyde .... 

Douglas 4 Sully . . . . , 

Deuel 10 Faulk 

Edgerton 4 Potter 

Grant 16 Walworth , 

Hand 8 Edmunds . 



Lawrence 30 

Lincoln 16 

Miner 16 

Minnehaha 28 

Moody 12 

McCook 12 

McCauley 4 

Pennington 13 

Spink 14 

Turner 16 

Union 16 

Yankton 16 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 



4 


McPherson 


1 


4 


Buffalo 


1 


8 


Campbell 


1 


8 


Jerauld 


1 


4 


Mandan 


1 


2 


Roberts 


1 



228 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTrON 

Hamlin 

Hanson 

Hutchinson 

Hug-hes 

Inman 

King-sbury 12 

Lake 8 

The committee have, as will be seen, increased 
the representation as given in the act of the legisla- 
ture four fold, and added twelve delegates for twelve 
unorg'anized counties not named in this act thus mak- 
ing four hundred twelve delegates in all. 

We recommend that in each of the several coun- 
ties, elections for delegates shall be held for all the 
qualified electors without distinction of party, on Sat- 
urday, the 9th day of June next. 

We recommend also that voluntary committees 
be formed in each county as speedily as possible to 
take charg-e of all the details of such elections, and 
that when formed they send their names to the chair- 
man of the committee. 

We repeat for the sake of distinctness our former 
recommendation that no questions be considered in 
order before this convention save these: 

1st, Do the people of Dakota wish that immediate 
steps be taken toward forming a state constitution 
and a state government for that part of Dakota south 
of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude? 

2nd, Shall the convention proceed to summon a 
constitutional convention to meet during the coming- 
summer and frame a state constitution and submit 
the same to the people to be voted on at an election 
in the ensuing fall? 

Believing with our friends all over the territory 
that the people of the territory can not too soon take 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 229 

the direction of their affairs into their own hands, 
and that if we fail to do so during the coming sum- 
mer the best interests of the territory are exposed to 
immediate and serious danger, we urge upon all good 
citizens in every county south of the forty-sixth par- 
allel to take immediate steps to secure a general rep- 
resentation of all classes and parties from their res- 
pective counties in this convention. 

We also request the chairmen and secretaries ot 
county meetings as soon as they have chosen dele- 
o-ates, to send in a list of their names to this commit- 
tee. We also request the press of the territory to 
publish the call and to aid with their influence and 
power this movement. 

Yankton, March 12th, 1883. 

WiLMOT Whitfield, 
Chairman Executive Committee." 

After the call for the Huron convention, the pro- 
ceedings of which are hereinafter set forth in sub- 
stance, Hon. Hugh J. Campbell, United States attor- 
ney for the territory, at the request of Hon. J. K. 
Gamble, Hon. C. J. B. Harris, Hon. S. A. Boyles, J. 
R. Sanborn, Major F. J. Dewit, ex-Governor A J. 
Faulk, ex-Governor Newton Edmonds, E. C. Dudley, 
Dr. Frank Etter, Hon. George W. Kingsbury, Rev 
Joseph Ward, W. S. Bowen and J. C. McNeary o 
Yankton, prepared his views of the state; how it 
may be formed from the territory, and published it 
in pamphlet form. It was a very able and exhaust- 
ive presentation of the matter in about fourteen 
thousand words and was widely circulated in that 
part of the territory out of which it was proposed to 

form the state. 

The Press and Dakotan, a daily newspaper pub- 



230 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

lished at Yankton, in the issue of May 29th, 1883, re- 
ferring to the views of Judge Campbell said "During 
the last week the Press and Dakotan has been giving 
space to a series of articles relating to the rights of 
territories and their eligibility to statehood, the last 
of which appears today. These articles contain all 
the known authorities upon the subject, compiled and 
commented upon at leng'th by one of Dakota's ablest 
lawyers — United States Attorney Campbell. He has 
given to it the close investigation of a hard working 
lawyer, has argued it purely from a legal and consti- 
tutional standpoint and has furnished the people of 
Dakota with more information upon this subject than 
could have come to them through a life of actual ex- 
perience. * * * * Many important conclusions 
are evolved from the mass of evidence furnished, chief 
among them is the undoubted right of the people of 
southern Dakota to proceed immediately to the for- 
mation of a state government. 

*'It may be said that congress will not recognize 
the government — will not admit the state. The au- 
thorities quoted running down from the United 
States supreme court through the various legislative 
and executive departments of the nation — prove con- 
clusively that congress has formally and repeatedly 
recognized the right. The power to organize for 
self government is inherent with the people. There 
is but one restriction recognized namely, that the 
section out of which it is proposed to construct a 
state shall possess the requisite population. The in- 
teresting decisions relating to the states of Michigan 
and Tennessee sustain most completely this view of 
the case, and there are numerous other authorities 
tending in the same direction. The experience of the 
two states named is particularly valuable at this 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 231 

juncture because they were formed by the people 
themselves from only portions of the territory to 
which they belong-ed. In creating- the state of Da- 
kota it is proposed to use but one half of the territo- 
ry of Dakota. * * * 

"General Campbell's researches demonstrate con- 
clusively that southern Dakota throug-h its people 
can elect and maintain a state government, * * # 
and very many wise people have put forward the ob- 
jection that we have not the right to include such a 
division in our efforts to enter the Union. But Gen- 
eral Campbell's researches demonstrate conclusively 
that southern Dakota through its people can erect 
and maintain a state gfovernment. 

"Under the precedents and court decisions we are 
possessed of greater right than was supposed. We 
have the undoubted authority to meet in convention 
and adopt a constitution. The same being ratified 
by the people we have the right to elect state officers, 
to provide our own courts, to collect taxes and toman- 
age our own affairs. Should the provisional organ- 
ization provided by the *state government refuse to 
recognize the government provided by the people, 
such refusal would not in any degree effect the legality 
of that government. Should congress delay the admis- 
sion of our representatives that would not take from 
us the principle of governing ourselves at home. We 
are possessed of one requisite — a sufficient number of 
people to entitle us to admission into the Union — 
and the general government has no power under the 
constitution to deny us the right of self government 
which is guaranteed to us under the constitution and 
the laws. We are therefore in favor of immediate 
state organization. We are in favor of it because the 
time has arrived when we should manage our own af- 

* general 



232 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

fairs and not be long-er subjected to the g-overning- 
powers of men appointed from the states. We are in 
favor of it because it is our constitutional rig-ht, priv- 
ileg-e and duty." 

If Judg-e Campbell had written that editorial 
himself he could not have stated his position more 
clearly and forcibly as set forth in the pamphlet re- 
ferred to, the circulation of which between the dates 
of the call for the Huron convention and its assem- 
bling- produced a profound impression in all parts of 
the proposed state, and g-ave the state movement an 
impetus that made the convention referred to and the 
constitutional convention which followed at Sioux 
Falls, the most remarkable assemblag-es in the histo- 
ry of the territory or state. It was not unusual after 
the people came to understand Judg-e Campbell's view 
to hear the expression, "If we cannot be a state in 
the Union we can be a state out of the Union," and 
we much preferred either to any more of Governor 
Ordway's territorial administration. The views of 
Judge Campbell thus advanced are larg-ely apparent 
in the call for the Huron convention, in the proceed- 
ings of that convention, in those of the constitutional 
convention which followed and in the address of the 
committee that presented the record of these proceed- 
ings to the president and congress in a plea for the ad- 
mission of the proposed state, but the constitutional 
convention declined by a unanimous vote to follow the 
Judge on his theory that we had a right to create a 
state and set its machinery in motion without the 
consent of congress. 

In response to the call for the Huron convention 
the delegates to the convention assembled there on 
Tuesday, June 19, 1883, were called to order and Mr. 
Whitfield nominated Hon. B. G. Caulfield of Dead- 
wood, for temporary chairman. 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 233 

Mr. Caulfieki took the chair and spoke as follows: 
* 'Gentlemen of the Convention;— 

I return you my sincere thanks for the honor 
jou have conferred upon the people who have dele- 
g-ated rae to represent them in this convention, by se- 
lecting- the humble individual who stands before a'OU 
as your chairman. I heartily congratulate the peo- 
ple of southern Dakota upon the interest and enthu- 
siasm manifested by the larg-e numbers constituting 
this body, which must result in the attainment of 
statehood and independence, (applause) I can con- 
g-ratulate them that they are ignoring the innova- 
tions made upon the ancient customs of this republic, 
by setting earnestly to work in the manner of the ear- 
liest days to bring into the Union a new and prosperous 
state. I congratulate them upon returning to the 
old moorings of the constitution where our fathers 
left it and from which present customs have floated 
it away, (applause) The former usage was for con- 
g-ress to admit within the fold of the Union such 
states as by the number, ability and characteristics 
of their people manifested to the country and the 
world their capacity for self government, without the 
intervention of enabling acts. The idea of an ena- 
bling act granted by congress, to the people who are 
the government themselves, to do that which they 
have a right to do, is an innovation upon our form of 
government, (loud and continued applause) The 
people of the new states require no act of congress to 
enable them to exercise their rights preparatory to 
their admission into the Union. The constitution of 
the United States is made for the states of the Union 
and not for the government of colonies and terri- 
tories. The preamble reads 'We the people of the 
United States do ordain and establish this constitu- 
tion for the United States of America' and neither the 



234 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

spirit nor the letter of that instrument contemplates 
the g-overnment of anything- but states. 

"We therefore have assembled here today as one 
people, at our own call, to manifest to the people and 
to cong-ress our desire to enter into the sisterhood of 
states, in the exercise of that right, which belongs to 
us by the constitution of our country. We the citi- 
zens of Dakota are citizens of the United States, and 
as such are entitled to the same rig-hts, privileg^es and 
immunities of all other citizens of the United States, 
but of which we are deprived, and that power which 
undertakes to deprive us of them commits a wrong 
and injustice upon us. We have assembled here to 
prepare for the formation of a constitution and to 
say to cong-ress that which we have the rig-ht to say 
that we the people of southern Dakota are a state, 
and that we simply need the forms of congress to ad- 
mit us into the Union as such, but not to bestow up- 
on us the condition of statehood which belongs to us. 
The constitu tion provides that 'Congress may admit 
new states' into the Union which presumes the con- 
dition of statehood. When a new state presents 
itself to congress for admission with a constitution 
republican in form, and not inconsistent with the fed- 
eral constitution, congress is bound to admit it in the 
plain discharge of its duties. When this territory as 
a part of Louisiana was purchased from France it was 
provided in the treaty of purchase that the inhabitants 
should be admitted as soon as possible into the Un- 
ion and the ordinance of 1787, afterwards extended 
over the territory, provides 'that at any time sixty 
thousand people residing in any portion thereof 
should have the rig-ht to form themselves into a state 
and be admitted into the Union.' I understand that 
this is the condition and position by which we stand 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 235 

today. With this understanding- let us proceed with 
the deliberations and purposes of the convention and 
to that end that the proceedings of this convention 
may meet with the approval of men and of God. I 
request that the Rev. Dr. Hoyt, the oldest pioneer 
clergyman of Dakota, shall invoke the divine bless- 
ing upon the work and labor of this convention." 

DR. I-IOYT's prayer. 

O God, Thou who of old did counsel with thy 
children, we pray Thee to be present with the mem- 
bers of this convention, now gathered together to 
consult for the best interests of the people of Dakota. 
Guide and direct them in all their doings with thy 
most gracious favor and favor them with the coun- 
tenance of Thy gracious help, that in all their work 
beg-un, continued and ended in Thee, they may glorify 
Thy holy name and perpetuate the best interests of 
the citizens of this territory. We ask it for the Re- 
deemer's sake, amen. 

Philip Lawrence of Kingsbury county, was chos- 
en temporary secretary, and W. B. McChesney of 
Brown, assistant secretary. 

The convention then adjourned until 3 p. m. 

Three o'clock p. m. convention again called to 
order by the chairman. 

A committee on credentials was appointed and 
reported the following deleagtes as entitled to seats 
in the convention: 

Aurora county— S. L. Baker, L. S. Cull, E. W. 
Robey, J. C. Ryan, E. H. Mcintosh. 

Jerauld— B. F. Chapman, A. B. Smart, T. F. 
Tofflemire. 

Brown— M. T. Hauser, M. J. Gordon, S. H. 
Jumper, J. H. Drake, W. B. McChesney, E. A. Bow- 
ers, A. O. Titus, W. Winter. The committee also 



236 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

recommended the additional deleg"ates, J. H. Hauser, 
C. S. Mainger, L. A. Burke and A. A. Rowley. 

Beadle — Karl Gerner, S. A. Armstrong-, J. W. 
Shannon, John Blair, Fred Grant, John Cain, A. B. 
Melville, L. S. Hazen, S. C. Nash and E. A. Morse. 

Bon Homme — John L. Turner, Joseph Zitka, 
Robert Bollard, F. A. Morgan, T. O. Bogert, Peter 
Byrne, C. T. Campbell, C. T. McCoy, F. M. Ziebach, 
John Todd, J. H. Stephens, C. S. Rowe, Robert Kirk, 
O. Richmond, Frank Trumbo, John C. Memmer, J. 
C. Klemme, alternate, M. H. Da}". 

Brooking-s — H. H. Natwick, C. A. Kelsey, G. A. 
Mathews, C. H. Sterns, L. T. McClarren, Pag"e Down- 
ing:, S. G. Mayland, H. B. Finncgfan, D. J. Darrow, 
S. W. Lockwood, Charles Davis, E. E. Gaylord, C. 
W. Williams, Frank Adams, J. O. B. Scobey and 
Ole Knudtson. 

Brule— A. G. Kellam, F. M. Goodykootz, D. 
Warner, L. W. Lewis, J. H. King-, Charles Cotton, 
S. W. Duncan and F. J. Wells. 

Clark— S. H. Elrod, E. F. Conklin, S, J. Conklin 
and Don R. Frazier. 

Clay — E. B. Dawson, C. D. Shaw, J. Kimball, 
A. L. Newton, J. E. White, H. Newton, John R. 
Whiteside, C. E. Prentiss, Ben Collar, Jared Runyan, 
A. H. Lathrop and O. S. Ag-ersborg-. 

Coding-ton— H. R. Pease, D. U. Thomas, E. M. 
Dennis, E. D. Wheelock, T. A. King-sbury, A. D. 
Chase, Oscar Kemp, E. A. Dewey, William M. Pierce, 
Georg-e A. Eads, C. C. Wiley, L. D. F. Poore. Al- 
ternates — L. D. Lyon, W. O. Frazer, W^. H. Donald- 
son. 

Davison— H. C. Green, S. D. Cooke, S. F. Goody- 
koontz, J. D. Feg-an, S. W. Rathburn, H. F. Alter- 
ton, John Pease, E. S. Johnson, George S. Bidwell, 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 237 

John Foster, Doug-las Leffing-vvell and W. H. Black- 
man. 

Day — M. Moulton, E. H. Rug-g-les, O. A. James 
and B. F. String-ham. 

Douglas — W. E. Tipton, Georg-e H. Woolman, J. 
J. Devj and F. E. Lawrence. 

Grant— J. W. Bell, A. J. Blesser, A. Lewis, P. 
E. Skaken, A. Wardall, Wm. M. Evans, S. S. Lock- 
hart, A. B. Sniedley, O. J. Scheie, J. B. Whitcome, 
John Buzzell, H. Nash, J. R. Eastman, J. C. Drake, 
A. C. Dodge and J. C. Knapp. 

Hand— B. F. Payne, R. P. Smith, E. S. Voor- 
hies, C. E. Cort, W. H. Kephart, G. O. Hutson, G. 
W. Living-ston and C. A. Wheelock. 

Hanson— W. S. Arnold, L. P. Chapman, F. B. 
Foster and A. J. Parshall. 

Hutchinson — A. Sheridan Jones, F. L. Eisen- 
mann, Henry Heil, David Bellon, Karl Winter, S. M. 
Daboll and John Schamber. 

Hughes— C. D. Mead, W. S. Wells, H. R. Hor- 
ner, V. E. Prentice, C. W. Richardson, William 
Stough, H. E. Devs^ey and H. J. Campbell. 

Kingsbury — J. C. Southwick, P. Lawrence, 
Thomas Reed, J. E. Risdorph, I. A. Keith, M. A. 
Brown, A. Whiting-, J. A. Owen, D. C. Kline, L. F. 
Dow, J.C. Gipson and J. J. Sweet. 

Lawrence— G. C. Moody, B. G. Caulfield, S. P. 
Romans, Porter Warner, W. L. Hamilton, S. B. 
Smith, A. J. Knig-ht, G. G. Bennett, W. H. Parker, 
W. R. Steel, D. Corson, A. J. Harding-, John R. Wil- 
son, C. F. Tracey, VV. H. Riley, H. M. Greg-g-, T. E. 
Harvey, H. O. Anderson, D. K. Dickinson, W. J. 
Laramer, Dolph Edwards, J. O. Gunsully, George F. 
Robinson, J. W, Garland, John H. Davey, Thomas 
Hartlan, Joseph C. Ryan and Joseph Ramsdal. 



238' FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

Lincoln — L. Henslej, A. B. Boynton, J. W, Tay- 
lor, E. B. Peterson, B. E- C Jacobs, A. B. Wheelock, 
W. K. State, Lars Hilme, Robert Pierce, Elling- Op- 
sal, Thomas Wrig-ht, O. D. Hinkley, William Brad- 
shaw, A, P. Dickson, George Conkling; and William 
M. Cuppett: 

Miner — H. Bronson, Mark Harris, G, A. Martin, 
J. P. Ryan, M. A. Moore, H. Weddy, F. Britain and 
W. G. James. 

Sanborn — N. B. Reed, H, E. Mayhew, \^ illiam 
McFarland, W. F. Kenlield, George Lawrence, F. \V, 
Thaxter, C. H. VanTassel and C. H, Jones. 

Minnehaha — R. P\ Pettigrew, C. W. Hubbard, 
J. Schatzel, Melvin Grig'sby, J. R. Jackson, John 
Langness, VV. VV. Brookings, E. W. Caldwell, C. H. 
Windsor, T. H. B. Brown, D. R. Bailey, B. F. Camp- 
bell, G. A. Uline, S. Wilkinsen, D. S. Glidden, C. E. 
McKinney, A. C. Phillips, T. S. Free and VV. A. 
Wilkes. 

Moody— H. M. Williamson, A. G. Bernard, Wil- 
liam Ramsdell, T. E. Carter, R. Brennan, L. W. 
Sherman, F. F. Whalen, N. Vance, C. D. Pratt, John 
Hobart, A. P. Allen and Phil Clark. 

McCook— J. T. McKee, J. M. Bayard, E. Thom- 
as, E. H. Wilson, John F. Norton, J. E. Rutan, D. S. 
Pond and H. G. Miller. 

Sully— P. B. Hoover, J. A. Meloon, J. M. Moore. 

Spink— F. C. Warriner, C. H. Seeley, C. N. Keith, 
M. Moriarity, F. \\. Rogers, J. H. Allen, J. J. Gush- 
ing, C. H. Reedan, R. B. Hassel, E. W. Foster, C. D. 
Friberg, J. M. Miles, C. T. Howard and E. B. Korns. 

Turner— Rev. L. E. Newell, Rev. J. B. Currans, 
J. A. Hand, Rev. J. P. Coffman, A. T. Cathcart, G. 
W, Perry, Rev. Harmalling, Rev. Warnsus, Jackson 
Davis, G. L. Douglas, Joel Fry, Rev. N. Tychsen, J. 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 23'9 

B. Beebe, Rev. T, H. Judson, S. P, Andrews and Mr. 
Parr. 

Yankton — Joseph Ward, Bartlett Tripp, Georg-e 
Brown, C. J, B. Harris, G. VV. King-sburj, ,). R. 
Gamble, Wilmot Whitfield, Newton Edmunds, J. R. 
Hansen, Fred Schnauber, Maris Taylor, E. Miner, 
Georg-e H. Hand, I. E. West, S. A. Boyles and S. H. 
Gruber. 

Union — C. H, Walworth, George B, Freeman, J. 
D. Cittal, Georg-e Ellis, Jesse Akin, N. A, Kirk, Hen- 
ry Kipling-er, Joseph Yerter, M. VV. Sheaf e, Adam 
Scott, Harry M osier, J. G. iVIerril, Thomas Roman, 

C. F. Mallahan, Halvore Knudson and Rev, Joseph 
V, Himes. 

Potter—O. L. Mann. 

Faulk— J. A. Pickler, L. VanHorn and J. H. 
DeVoe. 

Campbell — S. S. Bassett. 

Buffalo— E. A. Herman. 

Hyde— M. G. Simon, E. O. Parker and L. E, 
Witcher. 

Committee on permanent org-anization appointed 
and report as follows: 

President— Hon. B, G, Caulfield, Lawrence county. 

Secretaries — Philip Lawrence, Kingsbury; W. B. 
McChesney, Brown; C. C. Mallahan, Union; John 
Cain, Beadle; and V. E. Prentice, Hughes. 

Vice Presidents — Rev. Joseph Ward, Yankton; 
Hon. F. M, Goodykoontz, Brule; C. D. Pratt, Moody; 
R. F. Alterton, Davison; D. R, S. Smith, Hand; A. 
H. Lewis, Grant; D. C. Thomas, Codington; Wm. M. 
Cuppett, Lincoln; J. J. Devy, Douglas; John Todd, 
Bon Homme; Col. Kimball, Clay; F. B. Foster, 
Hanson; E. W. Foster, Spink; C. A. Kelsey, Brook- 
ings. The report was adopted. 



240 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

Committees were appointed on rules and order of 
business, resolutions, apportionment, address to the 
people and on publication of proceeding's of conven- 

■4-«^--» ^ JjJ 9fr ■3p 7^ 5^ ■JK' ■3|t 'fi ■Jft <i ■Jjt ^ rp ■J(r 

The committee on resolutions reported throug-h 
its chairman, Hon. Hugh J. Campbell, the following- 
resolutions and ordinance, in substance, which were 
adopted: 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Whereas, The people of Dakota residing- south 
of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude have, in re- 
sponse to a call issued by the executive committee 
appointed for that purpose by the convention of the 
people held at Canton June 21st, 1882, elected dele- 
g"ates to this convention, held at Huron, June 19th, 
18§3. And 

Whereas, The deleg-ates so elected have been 
chosen by the people to express the will of the peo- 
ple upon the question of the division of the territory 
and of the formation of a state out of that part there- 
of south of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude, and 
also upon the time and manner of the formation of 
a state government. * * * * 

Whereas, This convention represents the wishes 
and interests of the people upon these questions and 
is the representative body which has been empowered 
to g-ive expression to such wishes and interests of the 
people, therefore be it 

Resolved, by the representatives of Dakota in 
this convention assembled in the name and by the 
authority of the people here represented, that the 
interests and wishes of the people of Dakota demand 
a division of the territory on the forty-sixth parallel 
of latitude; that on this measure the wishes of the 
people who live south of this parallel are unanimous. 



FORMING A STATE CONSTIl^UTION 241 

and that this is their fixed and unalterable will. 

ResoIvVEd, that the compact contained in the or- 
dinance of 1787 has been extended over the people of 
Dakota by five successive acts of cong-ress g-uaran- 
teed to them absolutely and inviolably the rig-ht to 
form a permanent constitution and state g-overnment 
whenever said territory shall contain sixty thousand 
free inhabitants. 

Resolved, That the treaty by which the Louis- 
iana Purchase v/as acquired, which is the supreme 
law of the land, g-uarantees to the people of Dakota 
Territory as absolutel}- and inviolably as the ordi- 
nance of 1787, that they shall be incorporated in the 
union of the states and admitted as soon as possible 
according- to the principles of the Federal constitu- 
tion, to the enjoyment of all the rig-hts, advantag^es 
and immunities of citizens of the United States. 

Resolved, That by the decision of the supreme 
court of the United States, the people of Dakota are 
declared not to be a colony or province, subject to be 
g-overned permanently or at the pleasure of cong-ress, 
but as a territory with two hundred and fifty thous- 
and people and a territory of about eig-hty thousand 
square miles, the}' have under the constitution and 
by virtue of the said treaty and the ordinance of 1787, 
and five successive acts of cong-ress, an unalienable, 
indefeasible and absolute right to self government. 

That they have the same inherent power and un- 
alienable and indefeasible right, as are solemnly and 
formally asserted for the people of the United States 
in the Declaration of Independence, and reserved to 
them by the constitution, and by the Bills of Rig-hts 
of the several states, to alter, reform or abolish their 
government in such manner as they may think 
proper. 



242 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

Resolved, That the territory of Dakota lying- 
south of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude has a 
present population of more than two hundred and fif- 
ty thousand people and will at its present rate of in- 
crease, in another twelve months, have over three 
hundred thousand people, which is more than double 
the population of any territory heretofore admitted 
as a state into the Union, and more than that of sev- 
en of the orig-inal states at the time of their admis- 
sion; that it covers an area of eigfhty thousand square 
miles, which is largfer than that contained in anj- 
state in the Union except seven. 

That with these boundaries the state of Dakota 
will be the eig-hth state in the Union in area, and 
will cover an area equal to that of all the states of 
New Eng-land, and New Jersey and Delaware with 
eig-ht thousand three hundred and twenty square 
miles in addition. * * * * 

Resolved, That the experience of the past has 
demonstrated that the most important need of the 
people of Dakota now, is responsible government; a 
g-overnment responsible to the people, elected by the 
people, and acting" for the people; that unless such a 
g"overnment is obtained speedily, we have g^ood rea- 
son to apprehend lasting- and remediless injury to the 
institutions and future welfare of the commonwealth, 
and that this question should, and will become the 
sole and vital issue, before all other issues, with the 
people of Dakota until it is determined. * * * * 

Therefore the people of that part of Dakota by 
virtue of their population, their territory, their con- 
stitutional rights and the inviolable g-uarantees of 
treaties, ordinances and laws of cong-ress and the will 
of the people ARE A STATE, and oug-ht without 
further delay to form a state constitution and a state 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 243 

g-overnment, and apply for admission into the union 
of states. 

And that the will of the people thus solemnly 
and authoritatively declared, was unwisely and un- 
justly defeated by the governor, when he neglected 
to sign said bill, (referring to a bill for an act provid- 
ing for a constitutional convention,) and return it to 
the house in which it originated with his objections 
that it might be reconsidered and passed notwith- 
standing such objections, and that this act of the ex- 
ecutive was- contrary to the universal wish and best 
interests of all the people of Dakota. 

Resolved, That the people having been by this 
action of the governor deprived of the ordinary 
means of declaring and executing their lawfully as- 
certained and expressed will, have full and unques- 
tioned right and authority to fall back upon, and ex- 
ercise, the reserved rights and ordinary powers vest- 
ed in them and have therefore, for that purpose, full 
power to call and create a constitutional convention 
a constitution and a state government by their spon- 
taneous action, and by such methods and instrumen- 
talities as they may in their primary and sovereign 
capacity establish and ordain to that end with a 
view to a speedy admission into the Union. 

Resolved, That it is the sense of this conven- 
tion, and the will of the people, that a constitutional 
convention shall be called to meet as soon as possible 
to frame a state constitution and submit the same to 
the people of that portion of Dakota lying south of 
the forty-sixth parallel for their adoption. 

Resolved, That this convention, being empow- 
ered by the people of Dakota for that purpose, do call 
a convention of delegates to be elected by the people 
of that part of Dakota south of the forty-sixth par- 



244 I^'OKMING A STATE CONSTITTTTIOX 

allel to meet on the 4th da}- of September, 1883, at 12 
o'clock, noon, at the city of Sioux Falls to there form 
a state constitution for the state of Dakota, and sub- 
mit the same to the people for adoption. 

ORDINANCE. 

The ordinance declared: That experience had 
demonstrated that the welfare of the people is pro- 
moted and only secured by a permanent g-overnment, 
sovereig'n in character aiid republican in form, and 
responsible to the people; * ^' * that according: 
to the determination of the supreme court of the 
United States the territory of Dakota was acquired 
and could be acquired only for the purpose, and upon 
the condition, that it should be admitted into the 
Union as a state as soon as its population and situa- 
tion entitled it to admission, and that cong-ress has 
no leg"al power to hold and govern the territory per- 
manently, in the character of a territory; =(■*** 
that it bad been determined by the courts, by the 
precedents of thirteen states, by the sanction of con- 
greSsS, and by the approval of the presidents, from 
Washington down, that the people of the territory, 
qualilied for state government, have the right in 
their primary and sovereig-n capacity * * * to 
proceed to form their state constitution and state 
government and apply for admission into the Union; 
that the proposed state of Dakota will be the 
eigfhth state in the Union in area and will cover an 
area equal to that of all New England, and New Jer- 
sey and Delaware with eig"lit thousand and three 
hundred and twenty square miles in addition; that 
the people of Dakota, by virtue of their population, 
their resources, their territory, their constitutional 
rig"hts and the guarantees of treaties and the com- 
pacts of the ordinance of 1787, and the will of the 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 245 

people, are a state, and oug-ht without further delay, 
to form a state constitution and a state g-overnment, 
and ask admission into the Union; that the experi- 
ence of the past has demonstrated that the most im- 
portant need of the people of Dakota now is a re- 
sponsible g-overnnient; a g-overnment responsible to 
the people, elected by the people and acting- for the 
people; that unless such g-overnment is obtained 
speedily we have g-ood reason to apprehend lasting- 
and remediless injury to the institutions and the fu- 
ture welfare of the commonwealth, and this question 
should and will become the sole and vital issue be- 
fore all other issues with the people of Dakota until 
it is determined. 

Then follows a reference to a bill which passed 
the leg-islature of 1883 providing- for a constitutional 
convention for that part of the territory south of the 
forty-sixth parallel, which failed to become a law by 
reason of the g-overnor'snon action, and proceeds v>'ith: 

The people having been thus deprived of the or- 
dinary means of declaring- and executing- their right- 
ful will have full and unquestioned rig-ht and author- 
ity to fall back upon and exercise the reserved rights 
and extraordinary powers vested in them and have 
therefore for that purpose called and created the con- 
vention which promulg-ated this ordinance * * * 
therefore; Be it resolved and ordained by the people 
of Dakota, throug-h their deleg-ates in convention as- 
sembled; 

Here follows a call for a convention to meet at 
Sioux Falls on Tuesday, September 4th, A, D. 1883, 
at 12 o'clock meridian for the purpose of framing- a 
state constitution and doing- all other thing-s essen- 
tial to the preparation of the part of the territory in 
question for making- application to the general gov- 



2^46 FORMnSTG A STATE CONSTrTUTrON 

ernment for its admission into the Union of states- 
Provision was made that the convention should con- 
sist of one hundred and iifty members and the appor- 
tionment be as follows: 

Aurora county three delegates; Beadle, four; 
Bon Homme, four; Brookings, five; Brown, seven; 
Brule, three; Butte, one; i>uffalo, one; Campbell, 
McPherson and that portion of Dickey, Mcintosh 
and Inman south of the forty-sixth parallel^ one; 
Clark, two; Charles Mix, two; Clay^ four; Coding- 
ton, five; Custer and Fall River, one; Davison, four; 
Day and that part of Sarg-ent south of the forty-sixth 
parallel^ three; Doug-las, two; Deuel, three; Kd- 
munds, one; Faulk, one; Grant, four; Hand, four; 
Hamlin, two; Hanson, three; Hutchinson, four; 
Hughes, four; Hyde, one; Jerauld, one; Kingsbury, 
four; Lake, three; Lawrence, nine; Lincoln, seven; 
Miner, three; Minnehaha, eig-ht; Mood3% four; Mc- 
Cook, three; Pennington, two; Roberts, one; Potter 
and Sulley, two; Spink, live; Sanborn, two; Turner, 
four; Union, five; Walworth one, and Yankton 
»even. 

It was provided that an election for delegates to 
the convention shovild be held on August 1st, 18S3, 
and provision was made for the manner of the elec- 
tion, the organization and work of the convention, 
for the submission of the constitution to the voters 
at the general election of 1883, and directed the con- 
stitutional convention to provide the manner of pre- 
senting- the constitution made by it to the congress of 
the United States. A State executive committee con- 
stituted of one member from each organized coimty 
and one from the proposed state at large was ap- 
pointed and vested with power to perform all things 
necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the 



TORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 247 

ordinance bj appointing- a county board in each coun- 
ty to take charg-e of the election, returns of elec- 
tion etc. therein, and to do such other thingfs as were 
necessary' to carry forward the movement towards 
i>tatehood to the point when the constitutional con- 
vention should assemble, and a committee, of which 
Hon. Bartlett Tripp was named as chairman, on ad- 
dress to the president and cong-ress was appointed. 
The committee on address to the people of Dakota, 
Hon. E. W. Caldwell chairman, made the following- 
report, which was adopted: 
To THE People of Dakota: — 

When the sentiment becomes unaTiimous in the 
minds of a quarter of a million of patriotic, liberty 
loving-, law abiding-, Grod-f earing- people that there 
are certain rig-hts to which they are entitled, but of 
which they are deprived, common fairness and com- 
mon decencv demand that respectful attention and 
consideration should be g-iven to their claims for the 
exercise of those rig-hts and privileg-es. 

For the purpose of emphasizing- and formally 
promulg-ating- the claims of which the people of the 
southern portion of Dakota make in the matter of 
statehood, and its rig-hts and privileges, a convention 
of three hundred and fiftj' deleg-ates chosen from her 
several counties, met at Huron, June 19th, 1881, there 
being a full representation from every org-anized 
county but three, and from a number of counties not 
yet org-anized. These representatives were chosen 
by the several counties upon the definite issue of tak- 
ing- steps for securing statehood for that portion of 
the territory designated. In convention assembled 
they, as the duly elected representatives of two hund- 
red and fifty thousand people, unsurpassed for intel- 
lig-ence and patriotism, most solemnly and with one 



248 FOKMIxXG A STATE CONSTITUTION 

voice declared it to be the unalterable and absolute 
demand of the people that thej be vouchsafed the 
exercise of those rigfhts promised them as citizens of 
these United States whenever thej should number 
sixty thousand souls, g-uaranteed to them by solemn 
treaty at the time the reg-ion, a portion of which 
they occupy, became a part of the domain of the 
United States, asserted for such as they by the foui^- 
teen commonwealths, and guaranteed to them by ev- 
ery precedent that Can possibl}- be considered as bear- 
ing- upon the issue. 

It is but just and right, and in due deference to 
the sisterhood of which southern Dakota desires to 
become a part, that the said convention should state 
some of the grounds upon which her claim is based, 
not only that those who might oppose it may have 
knowledge of their error but that- the people them- 
selves may more fully comprehend and realize what 
are their rights in the premises, and what is the ne- 
cessity for their prompt and unswerving and persist- 
ent assertion of those claims and the enforcement 
thereof by all and every means which individual and 
organized efforts can devise or execute. And it is for 
the purpose of supplying this information that the 
convention has directed the preparation of this ad- 
dress. 

In the first place let it be understood and known 
of all men that not a single feature of anything that 
is contemplated is any departure from due and ordi- 
nary process as recognized by the highest law of the 
land by the repeated interpretations thereof by the 
most eminent judicial authority, and by the practices 
and customs which have prevailed from the earliest 
periods of our Federal history. The entire movement 
which the southern half of Dakota is making today, 



FOiaimo A STATK CONSTITUTlOxV 24') 

in attempting- to secure statehood, is pure and simple 
patriotism. 

The people of the southern jwrtion of Dakota 
ask at the hands of the United States the division of 
the territory, upon the fortv-sixth parallel, and the 
admission of their half into the Union-thej ask it 
as an unquestionable rig-ht. 

Thev ask division because the domain thus al- 
lotted to them would even then be larger than thirtv 
other states in the Union and its boundaries would 
be sutticient to contain the whole of the six New En- 
§-land states, or half of the four Middle states, and 
with resources capable of maintaining- a population 
of ten millions, and today contains more than four 
times the number of inhabitants required by the fed- 
eral ordinance of 1787. 

Thej ask it because the interests commercial and 
otherwise, of the different sections of the new North- 
west extend in an east and west direction, and that 
therefore there is nothing- to join the interests of 
southern Dakota with those of the section from which 
she wants to be dissolved. 

They ask it because the g-enius and characteris- 
tics of the two peoples are as different as could well 
be imag-med-that of southern Dakota being- a people 
of homeholders and steady g-oing- citinens compam- 
tively content with the days of small thing-s and 
themselves directly interested in the conduct of pub- 
lic affairs; while affairs in northern Dakota are more 
directly in the hands of larg-e capitalists and exten- 
sive operators and speculators who are able to dic- 
tate the policy of the reg-ion by their influence upon 
the larg-e bodies of farming- people in their employ or 
under their control. No commonwealth could be sat- 
isfactorily manag-ed wherein two elements so diverse 
mig-ht be joined. 



250 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

Tbey ask it because they have the rig-ht to so or- 
ganize their g-overnment that the expenses thereof 
shall be less burdensome and experience demon- 
strates that the rate of taxation for state purposes is 
much less in small commonwealths than in the larg-er 
ones — statistics proving- that while the a.ssessments 
for such purposes in Delaware and Rhode Island is 
only ten mills on the dollar, it is in New York twenty 
one mills and Illinois twenty four. 

They ask it because the records of leg-islative en- 
actments show that it is, impracticable to establish 
laws which shall be of uniform operation throug-hout 
two sections of a commonwealth of such diverse in- 
terests and pursuits as north and south Dakota. 

They ask it because the proposed area of the 
state is as larg-e as permits economy of g-overnraent 
and the free and fair exercise of the political privi- 
leg"es of a g-ood people; for that to organize into one 
state so larg'e an area as the present Territory of Da- 
kota practically precludes the poor man from partic- 
ipating- in its conventions and manag-ements, thus 
tending- to make it only a rich man's g-overnment, 
which is contrary to the liberty and spirit of our in- 
stitutions. 

And furthermore on behalf of the principles 
enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, and 
in behalf of law and precedent as established by con- 
g-ress and recog-nized by our courts we do declare that 
the rig-ht indisputably rests with the people to define 
their own boundaries and adopt their own state con- 
stitution because the compact contained in the ordi- 
nance of 1787 which has been extended over the peo- 
ple of Dakota by five successive actsof cong-ress guar- 
antees absolutely and inviolably to them the rig-ht to 
form a permanent constitution and a state g-overn" 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 251 

ment whenever said territory shall contain sixty 
thousand free inhabitants. 

Because the treaty by which the Louisiana Pur- 
chase was acquired which is "the supreme law of the 
land" g-uarantees to the people of Dakota Territory as 
absolutely and inviolably as the ordinance of 1787, 
that they shall be incorporated in the union of states, 
and admitted as soon as possible according- to the 
principles of the federal constitution. 

Because the hig-hest judicial authority in the 
land has solemnly declared that congress has no just 
power to hold and g-overn this people permanently 
in the character of a territory. 

Because these rig-hts and privileg-es have hereto- 
fore been recog-nized and g-iven to a larg-e number of 
the existing- states, among- them being- Tennessee, 
Arkansas, Michig-an, Florida and Iowa. 

Because we are now deprived of the privileg-es of 
American citizenship, on account of the wide expanse 
of our domain and the limited and inadequate judicial 
system consequent upon the territorial condition; for 
that the writ of habeas corpus is practically suspend- 
ed in larg-e portions of the commonwealth, and other 
extraordinary legal remedies are not readily attaina- 
ble, and on account of the great expense made neces- 
sary by the long- distance which parties and their wit- 
nesses are in -many cases compelled to travel to reach 
the courts to attend trials. 

Because if admission be long-er delayed the sup- 
ply of public lands will be so nearly exhausted that 
the state cannot receive from the general g-overnment 
the g-rants for public purposes which by the custom 
and precedents in other cases have been so justly g-iv- 
en to new states; for that on account of the rapid de- 
velopment of Dakota, settlement is going- in advance 



253 FOKMTNG A STATE CONSTlT^JTIOlSr 

of the public survej's, thus absorbing' lands desig'necl 
for school and other purposes, which it will be impos- 
sible to replace. 

Because the people of Dakota on whom the rig-ht 
of self g-overnment inherently rests, have repeatedly 
throug-h acts and memorials of the legislatures, 
throug^h their representatives in three several con- 
ventions for that purpose spontaneousl_y assembled, 
and throug'h their entire press, declared their will 
and determination that Dakota south of the forty- 
sixth parallel should become a state. 

Nov.^ therefore, in view of the great interests at 
stake and that our ri^^hts may be maintained and di- 
vision and statehood secured, this convention appeals 
to every citizen of Dakota south of the forty-sixth 
parallel to g"ive his vote and influence for deleg"ates 
to the constitutional convention to meet September 
4th, 1883, and spare no effort that honest, able and 
loyal men shall be chosen to represent them and that 
the support thej^ maj receive at the polls shall dem- 
onstrate our numbers and patriotism so that the con- 
stitution framed shall reflect our intellig'ence and 
g-uarantee our rights, privileges and immunities as 
American citizens. 



In pursuance of the ordinance adopted by the 
Huron convention an election for delegates to the 
constitutional convention was held throug-hout that 
part of Dakota territory south of the forty-sixth par- 
allel of latitude in which deep interest was taken 
and the deleg^ates thus elected assembled at Sioux 
Falls on September 4th, 1883. They organized by 
the election of Hon. Bartlett Tripp as president, C. 
H. Wins^r as secretary and H. \1. Avery reading- sec- 




HON. BARTI.KTT TRIPP. 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTIOISr 253 

retarj. Rules and order of business were adopted 
and the following- committees were appointed: 

Judiciary — Moody of Lawrence, Kidder of Clay, 
Bollard of Bon Homme, Gifford of Lincoln, Grig-sb}^ 
of Minnehaha, Sterling- of Spink, Westover of Sully 
and Potter, Harris of Yankton, Wood of Pennington, 
Mellette of Codingfton, Lichtenwaller of Hug-hes, 
Murray of Lake, Cheever of Hamlin, Farmer of Mi- 
ner, Dawson of Clay. 

Kxecutive — Kellam of Brule, Reed of Beadle, 
Turner of Bon Homme, Kelsey of Brooking-s, Duncan 
of Brule, Whiteside of Clay, Murphy of Grant, Mc- 
Donald of King-sbury, Harve^' of Lawrence. 

Leg-islative — Kidder of Clay, Gamble of Yankton, 
Taylor of Lincoln, Elrod of Clark, Pettigrew of Min- 
nehaha, Gatchell of Deuel, McCoy of Bon Homme, 
Keith of Spink, Day of Edmunds. 

Bill of Rig-hts— Melville of Beadle, Brooks of 
Yankton, Cleveng-er of Brooking-s, Johnson of Brown, 
Sherwood of Clark, Pease of Davison, Howell of Hand, 
Harvey of Lav^rence, Hayes of Hamlin. 

Elections and Rig-ht of Suffrag-e — Jones of Hutch- 
inson, Kennelly of Aurora, Wheelock of Coding-ton, 
Gunderson of Union, Bannister of Minnehaha, Loth- 
ian of Grant, Johnson of Brown, Hunt of Spink, 
Knig-ht of Lawrence. 

Name, Boundary and Seat of Government of 
State — Allen of Turner. Brooks of Yankton, White- 
side of Clay, Houg-hton of Brown, McCoy of Bon 
Homme, Knig-ht of Lawrence, Winter of Hutchinson, 
Bannister of Minnehaha, Spicer of Codington. 

Federal Relations — Brookings of Minnehaha, 
Baum of Aurora, Daboll of Hutchinson, Bippus of 
Minnehaha, Bronson of Miner, Knox of Faulk, Aken 
of Union, Warner of Lawrence, Burman of Grant. 



254 FORMIICG A STATE COXSTrTUTTON' 

Education and School Lands — Moulton of Day^ 
Ward of Yankton, Daboll of Hutchinson, Eakin of 
Sully and Potter, Thorne of Minnehaha, Conklin of 
Lincoln, Whiting of Sanborn, Hunt of Spink, Mc- 
Donald of King-sbury. 

Municipal Corporations— Murray of Lake, Baker 
of Aurora, McVey of Brooking-s, Adams of Brown, 
Monag-han of Deuel, Still of Turner, VanVelser of 
Hughes, Allen of Moody, Wheelock of Lincoln. 

Corporations other than Banking or Municipal — 
Mellette of Coding^ton, Hand of Yankton, Wood of 
Pennington, Caulfield of Lawrence, Bovnton of Lin- 
coln, Kellam of Brule, Melville of Beadle, Brookings 
of Minnehaha, Waterbouse of Davison. 

County and Township Organization — Keith of 
Spink, Campbell of Minnehaha, Epple of Turner, 
Cort of Hand, Kennelly of Aurora, Scliwindtof Brule, 
Chapman of Hanson, White of Miner, Lane of Beadle. 

State, Count}' and Municipal Indebtedness — Pet- 
tigrew of Minnehaha, Rudolph of Lincoln, Rugg'les 
of Day, Edwards of Lawrence, Winter of Hutchin- 
son, Murphy of Grant, Compton of Union, Lucas of 
Charles Mix, Eakin of Sully and Potter. 

Revenue and Finance — Pierce of Codington, Bip- 
pus of Minnehaha, Foster of Spink, Tatman of Da- 
vison, Conklin of Lincoln, Turner of Bon Homme, 
Wentworth of Lake, Miller of Hand, Brooks of Yank- 
ton. 

Public Accounts and Expenditures — Bo^-nton of 
Lincoln, Thorne of Minnehaha, Simpson of Douglas, 
Daly of Lake, Pease of Davison, Wheelock of Coding- 
ton, Kelsey of Brookings, Whalen of Moody, McDon- 
ald of Jerauld. 

State Institutions and Public Buildings including 
Penitentiaries and other Reformatory Institutions — 



FOKMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 255 

Ziebach of Bon Homme, Spicer of Codington, Sher- 
man of Lincoln, Chapman of Hanson, Miller of Hand, 
Aken of Union, Converse of Sanborn, Simpson of 
Douglas, Thorne of Minnehaha. 

Manufactures and Agriculture — Mitchell of 
Brooking-s, Wheelock of Ivincoln, Lovering- of Minne- 
haha, Peek of Hanson, Rerteson of Turner, Schlimgen 
of Hutchinson, Kimball of Clay, Smith of Kingsbury, 
Brooks of McCook. 

Congressional and Legislative Apportionment — 
Gifford of Lincoln, Pettigrew of Minneha.ha, Gamble 
of Yankton, McCoy of Bon Homme, Pierce of Cod- 
ington, Lake of Pennington, Sterling of Spink, Ward 
of Hughes, Foster of Hanson. 

Mines, Mining and Water Rights — Caulfield of 
Lawrence, Wood of Pennington, Knight of Lawrence, 
Burridge of Deuel, Johnson of Brown, Ryan of Law- 
rence, Sherman of Lincoln, Campbell of Yankton. 

Roads, Bridges and Other Internal Improvements 
— Elliott of Grant, Boynton of Lincoln, Sherwood of 
Clark, Wellman of Mood}', Callahan of Douglas, 
Adams of Day, Daly of Lake, Whiteside of Clay, 
Scheffler of Beadle. 

Exemptions, Real and Personal — Williamson of 
Moody, Rudolph of Lincoln, Baum of Aurora, Peek 
of Hanson, Grant of Brown, Gatchell of Deuel, Cort 
of Hand, Allen of Turner, Herman of Buffalo. 

Rights of Married Women — Monaghan of Deuel, 
Parker of Lawrence, Rutan of McCook, Knox of Faulk, 
DaboU of Hutchinson, VanVelsor of Hughes, Lewis 
of Kingsbury, Conklin of Lincoln, Herman of Buffalo. 

Military Affairs — Brayton of Hand, Campbell of 
Minnehaha, Kimball of Clay, Dollard of Bon Homme, 
Moody of Lawrence, Campbell of Yankton, Foster of 
Spink, Duncan of Brule, Terrell of McCook. 



2.^6 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

Seal of State, Coat of Arms, and Desig-n of Same 
— Foster of Hanson, Ward of Yankton, Jones of Hutch- 
inson, Moulton of Day, Cort of Hand, Lawrence of 
King-sburj, Caullield of Lawrence, Williamson of 
Moody, Dollard of Bon Homme. 

Banking- and Currency — Lake of Penning"ton, 
Turner of Bon Homme, Taylor of Lincoln, Warner of 
Lawrence, Grig'sby of Minnehaha, Turner of Miner, 
yualey of Brooking"s, Elrod of Clark, Lewis of Kin g-s- 
bury. 

Amendments and Revision of the Constitution — 
Lawrence of King-sbury, Rugfgfles of Da}-, Spicer of 
Codington, Dawson of Clay, Mallahan of Union, Lu- 
cas of Charles Mix, Waterhouse of Davison, Cleven- 
ger of Brooking-s, Baker of Aurora. 

Printing- — Mallahan of Union, Warner of Law- 
rence, McDonald of Jerauld, Wells of Hughes, Kieth 
of Spink, Rutan of ^[cCook, Ziebach of Bon Homme, 
Lane of Beadle, Howell of Hand. 

Schedule — Campbell of Yankton, Hag-er of Da- 
vison, Wood of Pennington, Kellam of Brule, Howell 
of Hand, Dollard of P>on Homme, Lawrence of Kings- 
bury, Melville of Beadle, Mitchell of Brookings, Kd- 
wards of Lawrence, Pierce of Codington, Williamson 
of Moody, Baker of Aurora, Dawson of Clay, Day of 
Edmunds, Foster of Hanson, Ward of Hughes, 
Wheelock of Lincoln, Mallahan of Union, Foster of 
Spink, Moulton of Day, Allen of Turner. 

Miscellaneous Subjects — Houghton of Brown, 
Harvey of Lawrence, Smith of Kingsbury, Johnson 
of Hyde, Winter of Hutchinson, Braj^ton of Hand, 
Callahan of Douglas, Still of Turner, Elrod of Clark. 

Compensation of Public Officers - Ward of Hug-hes, 
Grigsbyof Minnehaha, Mitchell of Brookings, Harris 
of Yankton i Kellam of Brule, Hager of Davison, Lo- 



YORMIICG A STXTK CONSTITUTTOX 2r>-i 

tiiiiafi of Gra.nt, Whalen of Moodj, White of .Mim-r-. 

Arrang-emetit and Phrastndogy of the Constitu- 
tion — Hag-er of Davison, Hand of Yanktonv, Moody of 
L/awroncc, Gamble of Yankton, Taylor of lancoln. 
Mellette of Codiugton, Ziebach of Bon Homme, Bron' 
son of Miner, Westover of Sully and Potter. 

The convention, and all proceedings leading" up 
to it, v/c-re strongly won partisan, public spirited and 
patriotic ^ind many liojjod this would result in a pro*- 
vision for the election of state officers and members 
of both branches of con g-ress, and that Hon. Gideon 
C\ Moody and Hun, Bartlett Tripp, leaders of the 
territorial bar and eminently qualilied in ability and 
character, would be our first United State*> senators. 

The convention made an excellent constitution 
as the result of its sixteen days dilig^cnt and conscien- 
tious deliberations, but concluded it was the part of 
svisdom to make no provision for the establishment 
of a state g-overnmcut at that time. It was my in- 
tention when I started out with the publication in 
this book of matter relating- to a constitution to set 
forth the constitution in full, but I find it will require 
too much space, hence I have concluded to omit it 
and compensate for its omission later by comparison 
of its features with those of the constitution made by 
the convention of 1885, under which, with sligiit 
changes, our state was admitted into the Union. 

One of the striking- features of the constitutional 
convention of 1883 was the leadership of every shade 
of political and reformatory opinion that it contained, 
and the toleration and harmony which characterized 
its members; but a singfle appeal was taken from the 
ruling-s of the chair throug'hout the proceedings of 
the convention and in that instance the ruling- was 
sustained by a prompt and decisive vote. 



258 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

Amongf the members of that convention and of the 
Huron convention which preceded it were many who 
had occupied disting-uished positions in public life or 
did so later. Hon. B. G. Caulfield, a prominent 
member of the Ivawrence county bar, had represented 
a democratic district of Chicago as a leading- member 
of congress for many years. 

Hon. Bartlett Tripp was made chief justice of 
the territory in 1885, and serA^ed as such until the 
state he was prominent in laying the foundation of 
was admitted into the Union. Later he was envoy 
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the 
United States to the Austrian Empire, by appoint- 
ment of President Cleveland, and served nearly five 
years, and still later, by appointment of President 
McKinley, he was made a member of the Hig-h Joint 
Commission, to settle the Samoan question, pregnant 
with war between the United States, Great Britain 
and Germany. Baron Speck von Sternberg-, the pres- 
ent ambassador of Germany to the United States was 
the representative of his country on the commis- 
sion and Sir Charles Elliott the representative of 
Great Britain. Judge Tripp was elected chairman 
by his associates and Edwin V. Morg-an, his private 
secretary, now minister to Cuba, was elected secre- 
tary. The question this commission was appointed 
to settle grew out of a tripartite agreement between 
the United States, Great Britain and Germany to 
jointly administer the affairs of the Samoan Islands 
under a native king- and involved the title of the king-, 
the United States and British authorities on the islands 
recog'nizing one of the natives as the king- and the Ger- 
man authorities another, which brought on hostili- 
ties that resulted in the death of many persons, 
among them several American and English officers 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 259 

and soldiers who were beheaded in accordance with 
the Samoan custom and their heads brought into 
camp as trophies of war. This procedure was claim- 
ed by the British and Americans on the islands to 
nave been countenanced and encourag-ed by the Ger- 
mans and bid fair when the commission was ap- 
poin ed to bring- the nations interested into a warlike 
attitude But the commission having full authority 
and ample exhibition of the war power of these na 
tions to convince the natives of their ability to make 
a fair settlement of the matter succeeded in settling- 
it peacefully to the entire satisfaction of all concerned 
Hon. Hug-h J. Campbell was a disting-uished Un- 
ion soldier in the civil war; a judge of a court of gen- 
eral jurisdiction in Louisiana after the war and a 
major general of the militia of that state and later 
United States attorney for the Territory of Dakota 
for eight years Hon. G. C. Moody had been asso- 
ciate justice of the territorial supreme court and later 
was one of South Dakota's first United States sena- 
tors and Hon. R. F. Pettigrew was the other. Judo-e 
Kidder was on the supreme bench and had been in con- 
gress. Hon. O. S. Gifford was the territorial delegate 
in congress for several terms after 1884. Hon Mel 
vin Grigsby became attorney general of the state of 
South Dakota colonel of a Rough Rider regiment in 
the war with Spain and later United States attorney 
for Alaska. Hon. Thomas Sterling became a leading 
sta e senator and is now dean of the law department 
of the University of South Dakota. Hon. Arthur C. 
Mellette became governor of South Dakota and served 
two terms. Hon. A. J. Kellam became a judge of the 
South Dakota supreme court and was twice elected to 
hat position, the first term for four and the second 
term six jears. Hon. J. R. Gamble was elected to 



260 FOK-MIISTG A STATE COJ^TSTITtTTTON' 

fongTes^^. from Sauth Dakota^ but died before the 
opening- of its first session. Hon, Samuel El rod is at 
present g-overnor of tbe s^tate of South Dakota. Hon„ 
George H, Hand had been seci'etarj^ of the Territory 
of Dakota and acting* governor. Rev, Dr. Ward was 
president of Yankton Colleger ®i'^<^ of the ablest and 
best men in the state. To knov/ him was to love and 
admire him. Hon, M. J. Gordon became a judge of 
the supreme court of the state of Washington- Hon. 
G. G. Bennett had been vl member of congress from 
]>akO'ta Territory and one of its supreme court judg- 
es. Hon. W- H, Parker is now a candidate for^ and 
will be elected to, congress. Hon. W. R, vSteele had 
been a delegate to congress from Wyoming*. Hon. 
E. W. Caldwell had been the leading newspaper man 
of the territory since the time when the memory of 
man runneth not to the contrary, and during that 
time no republican gathering" vv'as complete without 
"Cal," Hon. Newton "Edmunds had been governor 
of the territory. Hon. Maris Taylor was later sur- 
veyor g-eneral of South Dakota. Hon. John A. Pick- 
ler served as a cong-ressman for South Dakota several 
terms. Hon, M. W. Sheaf e was made a brigadier 
general in the war vvith Spain, and the history of 
South Dakota, published by Doane Robinson, says 
of the Huron convention that "It was one of the 
strongest bodies of men ever assembled in Dakota,'' 
and of the constitutional convention at Sioux Falls 
"It embraced in its membership most of the names of 
South Dakotans who are best known for wisdom and 
public spirit."' 



KOK^[ING A STATE CONSTITUTION 261 

AN ADDRESS 

To the President and Cong-ress of the United States, 
presented by Hon. Barti.ktt Tkipp, Chairman 
of the Committee appointed for that purpose b\' 
the Huron Convention: 

In accordance with a resolution of a convention 
held at Huron, D. T., on the 19th day of June, A. D. 
1883, to take into consideration the question of call- 
ing- a constitutional convention and asking- admission 
as a state of that portion of Dakota Territory lying- 
south of the forty-sixth parallel of latitude, the un- 
dersig-ned committee appointed by said convention to 
present to the president and congfress the special rea- 
sons upon which the people base their action, and 
their claims to admission as a state, beg- leave to pre- 
sent to your consideration: 

That all portions of Dakota Territory, with few, 
if any, exceptions, desire a division of the territory 
upon the fort3''-sixth parallel, and all of that portion 
south of said parallel, are, without exception, in fa- 
vor of admission as a state. 

The people of south Dakota ask this not as slaves 
and suppliants, but as free American citizens demand- 
ing- their rig-hts of an American cong-ress. They 
come not as colonies demanding- separation from an 
unjust and tyrannical g-overnment, but they come as 
minor children attaining- their majority, demanding- 
the same rights and privileges accorded to their older 
brothers and sisters — and which rights ought to be 
on the part of the nation as much a privileg-e and 
pleasure to grant as on the part of the infant state 
to receive. 

We recog-nize the fact, therefore, that our duty 
consists in presenting- to the general government that 



262 FOKMTN'G A .STATE COlsrSTlTUTIOlsr 

we have the desire and the ability to g-overn ourselves. 

Do the people desire division and admission? 

The question of division is almost as old as the 
territory itself. The settlement of Dakota commenc- 
ed almost simultaneovisly in the two extreme portions, 
of the territory, to-wit: In what is now Union county 
in the extreme south east, and what is now Pembina 
county in the extreme north east corner of the terri- 
tory. These settlements gradually extended, encour- 
ag-ed by the early building- of the Northern Pacific 
and the Dakota southern railroads and their tributa- 
ries, many hundred miles apart and traversing- dis- 
tricts of country as unlike and distinct in their g-ener- 
al characteristics, as the people who settled and occu- 
pied the same. The north has become from climate 
and circumstances controlling; its early settlement, 
one great wheat field rented and cultivated in larg-e 
tracts, while the south is a pastoral and ag-ricultural 
reg-ion divided into small farms, occupied and culti- 
vated by the owners of the soil. 

The march of settlement has been directly west. 
The great trade centers of St. Paul and Minneapolis 
have reached out directly for the great New North- 
west and the products of her soil have made necessa- 
ry and built up the great Houring mills of Minneap- 
olis and the great commercial metropolis of St. Paul, 
while the trade and commerce of southern Dakota 
connects her directly east with Chicago and more 
southerly with St. Louis. 

All the new lines of railroad projected and built 
into Dakota follow the same east and west course, 
parallel with each other, with no roads running north 
and south except here and there a connecting link be- 
tween friendly lines. There is not today and for 
some time to come there will not probably be any 



■FOKMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 263 

connection by rail between northern and southern 
Dakota, except throug'h Minneapolis and St, Paul, 
Minn. 

Thexe people have settled Dakota, emigrating- 
^g-eneralh' from the same parallel of latitude. They 
came with different tastes and habits of life; they 
settled countries unlike in climate and character; 
they early imbibed the prejudices of the two sections 
ag-ainst each other, and have conceived and propagat- 
ed the idea and belief that the two sections would be- 
come separate and independent states, 

.The legislation of Dakota has been marked from 
the beg"inning' with this popular idea. The public 
institutions of the territory have been located in 
southern Dakota until more recently by action of the 
last legislature, similar institutions were provided for 
in the north, but all looking- to a future separation. 

Nearly every legislature of the territory fresh 
from the people has memorialized congress for a di- 
vision of the territory on the forty-sixth parallel. In 
1870 we find the legislature making- use of the fol- 
lowing language in its memorial to congress: 

"Your memorialists would further represent in 
evidence of this, our petition, that while the said new 
territory is remote from the main line of travel in 
southern Dakota, and is separated therefrom b}' a 
broad extent of unoccupied and wild country, yet the 
Northern Pacific and St, Paul and Pacific railroads 
will traverse the entire length of the proposed new 
territory, giving- it direct and easy communication 
with Minnesota and other states, b^- means of which 
several thousand people have already settled in the 
valley of the Red River of the North and other por- 
tions of the proposed new territory, in which are es- 
tablished towns at a distance of fifteen hundred miles 



264 FORMING A STATK CONSTITUTION 

bj the nearest traveled route from the capitol and 
courts of Dakota. * * * That no direct line 

of communication is now, or will for many years, be 
opened across the plains, connecting- the two remote 
sections of Dakota, so long- as the Pacific railroad 
g-ives to the proposed new territory such adyantag-es 
of trade and travel with Minnesota, the lakes, and 
the east, as is now possessed by that section of the 
northwest. 

"Your memorialists would further represent that 
said portion of Dakota comprises an area of territory 
equal to about fifty millions of square acres, or about 
one-half the present territory of Dakota. * * * 
That all the g-uards of law and courts afforded by a 
separate territorial g-overnment should be extended 
to the already populous settlements of the proposed 
new territory. As in duty bound your memorialists 
will ever pray." 

And that substantially the same memorial was 
ag-ain presented to congfress by the leg-islatures of 
1872-3, 1874-5, and others subsequent, and this with- 
out any remonstrance from any quarter; leg-islature 
after leg-islature has memorialized cong-ress to divide 
the territory on the forty-sixth parallel; the press 
without dissent has advocated it; bill after bill has 
been introduced in cong-ress by our deleg-ates, backed 
by petitions of our people and memorials of our leg-is- 
latures, for this purpose. So that it may be put down 
as a conceded fact that not only do the people desire 
a division of the territory, but that nothing- short of 
a division on the forty-sixth parallel will satisfy them, 
and it may be stated with safety that the people, 
whom we have no doubt the cong-ress desires to con- 
sult in a matter so much of interest to them, will not 
be satisfied nor content with any division of their ter- 



PORMiNG A STATE CON:STITUTION 2()r> 

ritory that places a section of north and south Dako- 
ta under the same state g-oveniment. 

The question of admission is one of more modern 
date, but has been ag-itated for several years past. 

It was f reel}' discussed in the political campaig"ns 
of 1876, 1878. and 1880 throughout the territory. 
County and territorial resolutions were adopted dur- 
ing- these years, looking- to the admission of southern 
Dakota as a state, and bills were introduced in con* 
g-ress by the delegates for the same purpose, but the 
first direct and general actioil taken on the part of 
the people was a convention held at Sioux Falls on 
the 25th day of January, 1882. This was a convene 
tion of about seven hundred of the representative 
men of. that portion of Dakota south of the fort3'-sixth 
parallel. Enthusiastic speeches were made, resolu- 
tions were passed, and delegates were selected from 
every county of southern Dakota, to urge upon con- 
gress the immediate necessity' of division, and adniis^ 
sion of southern Dakota as a state. 

A similar convention was held about the same 
time in northern Dakota, and similar resolutions 
adopted, and delegates were also selected to visit 
Washington for the same purpose. These delegates 
from both north and south Dakota did visit Washing-- 
ton and press the claims of all Dakota for immediate 
division on the fort3'-sixth parallel, and the admission 
of the southern half as a state. The introduction of 
such bills into congress and their subsequent failure 
of passage are now matters of history. 

Dakota was neither admitted nor divided, but the 
same unity of feeling that was then exhibited be- 
tween the north and the south, for division on the 
forty-sixth parallel, and the admission of the south- 
ern part as a state, so far as an}' public acts or public 



266 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

expression of opinion is known, still continues. 

The next direct step taken by the people toward 
statehood was a convention held at Canton in Lincoln 
county, D. T., on the 25th day of June, 1882. This 
convention was called by the people in view of the 
bill then pending* in cong-ress for the admission of the 
southern portion of Dakota as a state, to take into 
consideration certain questions to be submitted as a 
part of the constitution of the new state. It was a 
convention of leading" citizens, representative men of 
the various sections of Dakota south of the forty- 
sixth parallel. It passed a larg-e number of resolu- 
tions and adjourned to meet at Huron in the count}' 
of Beadle, subject to the call of an executive commit- 
tee appointed by that convention. 

This executive committee subsequently in March 
1883, issued a call for a convention to assemble on 
the 19th day of June, 1883, composed of deleg-ates 
from each county south of the forty-sixth parallel, 
apportioned according- to population, to consider the 
question of calling- a constitutional convention for 
that portion of Dakota south of the forty-sixth paral- 
lel — to draft a state constitution to be submitted to 
the people and presented to congress upon which to 
ask admission as a state. 

This convention assembled at Huron on the 19th 
day of June, 1883, in accordance with such call; over 
four hundred deleg-ates being- present; every county 
south of the forty-sixth parallel, with perhaps the 
exception of three small counties, being- represented. 
Even unorganized counties not embraced in the call 
availed themselves of the opportunity and sent dele- 
g-ates who were admitted to seats. 

The convention was composed of the best and 
ablest men in southern Dakota. No distinction in 



trORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 267 

politics, relig"ion or class was observed in the call or 
composition of the convention, but the convention 
was composed of ministers, lawyers, doctors, mechan- 
ics, merchants, farmers and a full representation of 
all classes, religions and politics. Prominent politi- 
cians as well as the rank and file of both political 
parties, composed the convention, and each vied with 
the other in promoting- the objects for which it was 
called. Entire harmony and unanimity prevailed, 
the ordinance passed and the proceedings of this con- 
vention are hereto appended, marked Ex. "A" and 
made a part hereof. 

It will be seen from the published proceedings 
that the object of the convention was to discuss the 
propriety of calling a constitutional convention, to 
draft and submit to the people a constitution, which 
if ratified should be submitted to congress, and an 
admission into the Union asked under such constitu- 
tion. 

The foreign newspaper articles prompted by en- 
emies of Dakota, to the effect that the convention 
was a revolutionary body seeking to set up a govern- 
ment in defiance of the national government, is too 
absurd to need a passing reference. There was not 
in word or act by the convention, a hostile expres- 
sion toward the general government, but on the oth- 
er hand the speeches were of the most patriotic char- 
acter. The old flag was flaunted aloft and the wings 
of the great American bird were extended wide in the 
eloquent perorations of those embryo western states- 
men. They were so far from wanting to secede or 
form an independent government, that they were in 
haste to become a part of the old government, to be- 
come a new star upon the old flag, and to hasten the 
time of such an event, they favored the immediate 



268 FORMII^G A STATE COIsrSTrTUTlON" 

formation of a state constitution to the end that con- 
gress could take immediate action thereon without 
the long- delay of the usual enabling" act. 

No more loyal people exist than the new settlers- 
of Dakota- A large proportion of them have carried 
the musket to the front in the darkest days of the re- 
bellion. The}?- have "beat their swords into plow- 
shares;" the}' have availed themselves of the govern- 
ment's bounty and have dotted the prairies of Dakota 
with soldier's homes; they are cultivating the arts of 
peace, but the fires of liberty and love of country 
burn as brightly in their breasts here in these hum- 
ble western homes as they did when, at the nation's 
call, they bid adieu to comfort, home and family and 
offered their lives in their country's defense. 

Whole armies of these men are now petitioning* 
you through us for that privilege of self-government 
they periled their lives to perpetuate. No, there was 
not a breath of disloyalty in the Huron convention. 
Not a hasty or impatient v.-ord was uttered by the 
most enthusiastic speaker, not an unkind word 
against congress or any member thereof for any 
seeming neglect or delay, but every utterance and ev- 
ery act of the convention was aimed at the end of 
presenting to congress such a case that the great rep- 
resentatives of the nation would be justified in ad- 
mitting the new state and as pleased in receiving her 
into the confederation of states, as she would be in 
becoming a part of the great nation she has so looked 
to for aid and support. 

It is unnecessary to refer to the fact that the 
plan proposed by the people in calling a constitution- 
al convention, while adopted to gain tim^e and secure 
an early admission, has no claims to originalit}' with 
the people of Dakota. It is as old as the govern- 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 269 

ment itself, it is the plan first known and adopted by 
our forefathers in admitting- new states. 

We take pleasure in here submitting- an array of 
precedents and the opinions of learned judg-es care- 
fully collated by the Hon. Hug-h J. Campbell, U. S. 
attorney for Dakota, hereto appended and marked 
Ex. "B," from which it will be observed that state 
constitutions have been formed and state g-overnments 
set up outside of the g-eneral g-overnment, which have 
been obeyed and recognized; a precedent that Dakota 
in nowise attempts or intends to follow, but that Da- 
kota had the rig-ht and that under the circumstances 
it was her duty to take every step to hasten her ad- 
mission into the Union, no one unprejudiced and con- 
versant with the facts will for a moment deny. 

The convention at Huron was necessary to con- 
sider what was the sentiment of the people, to ascer- 
tain if there was any material opposition to admis- 
sion as a state, and to provide some machinery for 
calling- a constitutional convention. 

The representatives of the people in the last leg-- 
islature 1883, for the territory of Dakota, observing- 
the rapid increase in population and the immediate 
necessity of an early admission, wisely passed an act 
in many respects similar to the ordinance passed by 
the Huron convention providing- for a constitutional 
convention, a copy of which is hereto appended and 
marked Ex. "C," but which failed to become a law 
by reason of its not receiving- the approval of the 
g-overnor of the territory. There was then no course 
open to the people, but to act themselves throug-h 
their representatives in convention assembled, which 
they proceeded to do in passing- the ordinance provid- 
ing- for a constitutional convention to be held at Sioux 
Falls on the 4th day of September, 1883. 



270 F"ORMING A STATE CONSTlTUTIOlsr 

It then appearing- that the people desire a divis- 
ion and admission as a state of that portion of Dako- 
ta south of the forty-sixth parallel, and that the steps 
taken are proper, legitimate and within established 
precedent, it remains only to consider the ability of 
the people to govern themselves and the consequent 
policy and propriety of such division and admission. 

We need hardly argue that southern Dakota (by 
the term "southern Dakota" v^e mean all that portion 
south of the forty-sixth parallel) has a sufficient pop- 
ulation to admit her as a state. It is conceded by the 
enemies of admission that southern Dakota has at 
least two hundred and fifty thousand, while the 
friends of admission claim at least three hundred 
thousand, but taking- the admission of our enemies as 
the standard, and she has a g-reater population than 
any territory had when admitted as a state. She has 
almost twice as many as Alabama, Iowa or Wiscon- 
sin had when admitted; more than twice as many as 
Kansas or Nebraska; about three times as many as 
Michig-an or California; about four times as many as 
Mississippi, Missouri, Florida or Colorado; five times 
as many as Ohio, Illinois, x-Vrkansas or Oregon; and 
six times as many as Indiana or Nevada, and more 
than any one of seven of the original thirteen states. 

It will hardly be urged with these precedents 
that she has not the inhabitants requisite to admit 
her as a state. Nor can it be urged by way of prece- 
dent that as the ratio of representation in congress 
has increased, congress has increased the ratio for 
admission of states. Nevada was admitted in 1864 
with a population that in 1870 was a little over fort}'- 
two thousand, and Colorado was admitted in 1870 
with a population of but sixty-five thousand. By any 
precedent established, or ba^;is of calculation, south- 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 271 

erti Dakota, in matter of population, would seem to 
he entitled to admission. 

Will it be urg-ed that the territory should not 
be divided, but should be admitted as a whole? 

Without repeating- what has already been urg-ed 
upon jour attention as to the desire of this people for 
a division upon the forty-sixth parallel, and their in- 
nate feeling- of right, that in a republic the new state 
should be heard in shaping- its boundaries, as well as 
its form of g-overnment, we desire to call your atten- 
tion to the fact that the two prospective new states 
created by the division, would be of about equal size, 
each being- about two hundred and twenty-five miles 
in width by four hundred miles inleng-th, correspond- 
ing- in form and size with Kansas and Nebraska, and 
completing- the tier of states of which they form the 
base. The proposed new state of Dakota would con- 
tain about eig-hty thousand square miles, being larg- 
er than Nebraska which contains seventy-six thous- 
and, and nearly equal to Kansas wiiicli contains 
eighty-one thousand three hundred eighteen square 
miles, and Minnesota which contains eighty-three 
thousand five hundred thirty-one, leaving but five 
states in the Union containing a larger number of 
square miles, to-wit: Texas, California, Colorado, 
Nevada and Oregon, but capable of sustaining a pop- 
ulation many times larger, when we consider the 
broken and mountainous character of the four last 
named states. Nearl}- every foot of the proposed new 
state, except some portions of the Black Hills in the 
extreme southwest corner are susceptible of cultiva- 
tion and occupation, and is equal in fertility with the 
great states of Iowa and Illinois. An idea of the 
size of the proposed state will be obtained by com- 
paring it with the older and more populous states of 



272 FOKMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

the Union. New York, well named the "Empire 
State," contains fortj-seven thousand square miles: 
Pennsylvania, fortj'-six thousand; the great state of 
Illinois, fifty-live thousand four hundred ten; Iowa, 
fifty- live thousand and fortj'-tive; Wisconsin, tiftj'- 
nine thousand nine hundred twenty-four; Ohio, thir- 
ty-nine thousand nine hundred sixty-four; Indiana, 
thirty-three thousand, eig-Jit hundred nine. These 
are among- the great, the wealthy, and the popu- 
lous states of the Union. Yet the proposed new 
state of Dakota is more than twice as larg'e as the 
gTeat state of Indiana or Ohio, and more than a third 
larg-er than the gfreat state of Pennsylvania or New 
York, or any of the other g*reat states of the West, 
while it would be equal in size to all New Eng-land, 
Delaware and two states of the size of New Jersey, 
or nine states of the Union. 

It would be two thirds as larg-e as Great Britain 
and Ireland with her thirty-two million population, 
and considerably- more than two thirds as larg'e as 
Italy with her twenty-seven million, and with the 
same population to the square mile which Italy, Ger- 
many and the old countries of Europe now have, she 
would contain a population of more than twenty 
millions. 

No state should be so lafg-e in territory that her 
g-eneral laws shall be locally inapplicable, but the 
state should be of such size, and her people so homo- 
g-eneous in character, customs and occupations that 
one set of laws may apply to all. The state should 
not be so small in size as to make the duties to the 
state and taxation for its support burdensome to the 
citizen. Nor should it be so larg-e in size that all its 
localities are not fairly represented in the adminis- 
tration of public affairs. 



rO'KMlNf; A STATE CONSTITXITION 2v.> 

In the lig-ht of history, in the admission of new- 
states, in view of the natural richness and capacity 
of the proposed new state, in comparison with the 
^Teat states already named, may we not urg-e that to 
admit Dakota as a whole would be a departure from 
the precedents set in the admission of all the new 
states of the West, and an experiment dangerous to 
tile rig'ht.s of local self g-overnment. 

Baktlett Tripp, 

Chairman. 

The foregoing" is the only paper that I have been 
able to lind in the nature of an appeal to congress on 
the proceedings to form a state constitution which 
beg'an with the call for the Huron convention and 
ended with the adjournment of the constitutional 
convention after it had framed the constitution, but 
my recollection is that an executive committee was 
appointed by the latter convention to present the con- 
stitution to congress and that Hon. Bartlett Tripp, 
Hon. Hugh J. Campbell, Hon. Gideon C. Moody, 
Hon. Arthur C. Mellette and other prominent members 
of that convention were appointed as a committee to 
present the constitution to cong-ress and press the 
question of the admission of the state upon that bodv, 
and I see h\ reference to Doane Robinson's History 
of South Dakota it is stated that was done. Howev- 
er, notwithstanding- these efforts towards the forma- 
tion of a state and the endorsement of the people at 
the November election of 1883 of the constitution hy 
a vote of the electors in that part of the territory pro- 
posed to be included in the new state to the number 
of twelve thousand three hundred and thirty-six for 
to six thousand eight hundred and fourteen ag'ainst 
congress set its face ag-ainst the entire proceeding-, 
and on January 19th, 1885, a well considered and able 



274 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

memorial to the territorial leg-islature for an act pro- 
viding' for a constitutional convention to frame a con- 
stitution and state g^overnment for the people of Da- 
kota south of the fort^'-sixth parallel of latitude was 
presented by the following citizens of Yankton coun- 
ty: Rev. Joseph Ward, Hon. Bartlett Tripp, Hon. L. 
B. French, Henry Grebe, Hon. L. M. Purdy, Cox, 
Odiorne and Coe,' H. B. Wynn, O. H. Carney, J. M. 
Fog-erty, Hon. E. G. Smith, S. H. Gruber, D. E. 
Bruce, Hon. Geo. AV. Kingsbur^s Hon. E. G. Edg-er- 
ton, John T. Shaw, Gov. Newton Edmunds, Dr, D. 
F. Etter, Hon. Hug-h J. Campbell, J. W. C. Morrison, 
Hon. R. J. Gamble, J. P. Crennan, F. B. Brecht, Wm. 
Blatt, Harry Katz, J. C. McVay, H. G. Clark, Hon. 
Z. Richey, D. N. Grose, E. C. Dudley, W. S. Bowen 
and R. W. Burns, and an act to that effect was passed. 

An election for deleg-ates to the convention was 
held on June 30, 1885, and the convention, consisting- 
of eig-hty-eig-ht deleg-ates, assembled in Germania 
Hall at Sioux Falls, where the convention of 1883 was 
held, and org-anized by electing- Hon. Alonzo J. Edg-er- 
ton of Yankton as president and Hon. John Cain of 
Huron as secretary, and the following- committees 
were appointed: 

Judiciary — Moody of Lawrence, Kellam of Brule, 
Campbell of Yankton, Brooking-s of Minnehaha, Dol- 
lard of Bon Homme, Lichtenwaller of Hug-hes, Mc- 
Callum of Beadle, Taylor of Lincoln, Corson of Law- 
rence, Haines of Turner, Owen of King-sbury, Wrig-ht 
of Brooking-s, Fowler of Pennington. 

Executive and Administrative — Kellam of Brule, 
Frank of Lawrence, Ryan of Aurora, Walton of 
Brooking-s, Mason of Brown, Grant of Butte, Gault 
of McPherson, Smith of Hand, Wilcox of Bon Homme. 

Leg-islative — Kanouse of Sanborn, Hanson of 




HON. A. J. EDOKKTOX. 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 2/o 

Yankton, Jont-s of Miner, Lowthian of Grant, Snow 
of Bon Homme, Maynard of Brule, Grant of Butte. 

Education and School Lands — More of Beadle, 
Ward of Yankton, Updike of Coding-ton, Owen of 
Kingsbury, Phillips of Lawrence, Macleod of Brown, 
Miller of Hug-hes, Mj^ers of Spink, Haines of Turner. 

(.'ong-ressional and Legislative Apportionment — 
Dollard of Bon Homme, Fisher of Spink, Weeden of 
Lawrence, Baker of Beadle, Wrig-ht of Brooking's, 
Mason of Brown, Greg'ory of Brule, ]>ootIi of Custer, 
Lowe of Deuel, Lichtenwaller of Hughes, Tousley 
of Turner, Goddard of Minnehaha, Schviltz of Clay, 
Proudfoot of Clark, Smith of Hand. 

Seal of State, Coat of Arms and Desig-n of Same 
— Cleland of Clay, Ward of Yankton, McCallum of 
Beadle, Blair of Union, Miller of Hug-hes, Westfall of 
Codington, Gray of Hanson. 

Printing- — Neill of Grant, Gunderson of Jerauld, 
Tousley of Turner, Cranmer of E.dmunds, Jessup of 
Faulk.' 

Bill of Rig-hts — Owen of Kingsbur}^ More of 
Beadle, Craig of Spink, Gifford of Minnehaha, God- 
dard of McCook. 

Elections and Right of Suffrage — Westfall of 
Codington, Dow of Brown, McCallum of Beadle, 
Ward of Hughes, Parker of Lawrence, Campbell of 
Yankton, Lansing of Hand, Wilcox of Bon Homme, 
Alexander of Campbell. 

Name, Boundaries and Seat of Government — 
Frank of Lawrence, Patten of Miner, Fisher of Spink, 
Blair of Union, Reed of Sully, Lowthian of Grant, 
Murphy of Flanson. 

Federal Relations — Fowler of Pennington, Ash- 
ton of Roberts, Andrus of Hamlin. Baker of Beadle, 
Bellon of Hutchinson, Proudfoot of Clark. 



276 FO'KMING A STATE CONSTITUTION' 

Municipal Corporations — Wrig-lit of Brookino^^, 
Buechler of Hutchinson, Murphy of Hanson, Tychsen 
of Turner, Beebe of Minnehaha. Updyke of Coding-- 
ton. 

Corporations, other than Banking" or Municipali 
— Ward of Hug-hes, Brookings of Minnehaha, Britton 
of Spink, Hanson of Yankton, Jessup of Faulk, Lan- 
sing- of Hand, Laybourn of Brown, Conniff of Mc- 
Cook, Elfes of Charles Mix, Ryan of Aurora^ (rchon 
of Lincoln^ Gray of Hanson, Gault of McPherson. 

County and Township Org-anization — Allen of 
Turner, Coffin of Beadle, Berdahl of Minnehaha, 
Brown of i-luffalo, Buechler of Hutchinson, Churchill 
of Spink, Crose of Hyde. 

State, County and Municipal Indebtedness — Cor- 
son of Lawrence, T3xhsen of Turner. Andrus of Ham- 
lin, Baker of Beadle, Beebe of Minnehaha, Bellon of 
Hutchinson, Chv^rchill of Spink, Cranmer of Ed- 
munds, Dow of Browm. 

Revenue and Finance — Reed of Sully, Allen of 
Turner, Churchill of Spink, Crose of Hyde, Goddard 
of Minnehaha, Potter of Walworth, White of Brook- 
ings. 

Public Accounts and Expenditures — Williams of 
Hand, Huntley of Jerauld, Kendall of Union, Lay- 
bourn of Brown, Maynard of Brule, Oaks of Minne- 
haha, Ryan of Aurora. 

State Institutions and Public Building's, Includ- 
ing- Penitentiaries and other Reformatorj- Institu- 
tions — Fisher of Spink, Macleod of Brown, Vv alton of 
Brookingfs, Ward of Yankton, Oaks of Minnehaha. 
Cleland of Clay, Fellows of Aurora, Wrig-ht of Lake, 
Kanouse of Sanborn. 

Mines, Mining- and Water Rights — Booth of Cus- 
ter, Hanson of Yankton, Gifford of Minnehaha, 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 2// 

Frank of Lawrence, Grant of Butte, Fowler of Pen- 
ning-ton, Phillips of Lawrence. 

Roads, Bridg-es and other Internal Improvements 
— Blair of Union, Craig- of Spink, Weeden of Law- 
rence, Pendleton of Sully, Patten of Miner, Weach- 
erwax of Beadle, Crose of Hyde. 

Exemptions, Real and Personal — Bellon of Hutch- 
inson, Allen of Turner, Craig- of Spink, Dahl of Un- 
ion, Klfes of Charles Mix, Gehon of Lincoln, Gray of 
Hanson, Gunderson of Jerauld, Wright of Lake. 

Rights of Married Women — Coffin of Beadle, 
Gault of McPherson, Fellows of Aurora, Westfall of 
Coding-ton, Haines of Turner, Goddard of McCook, 
Cranmer of Edmunds, 

Military Affairs — Taylor of Lincoln, Weather- 
wax of Beadle, Tousley of Turner, Huntley of Je- 
rauld, Jones of Miner, Sheets of King-sbury, Buechler 
of Hutchinson. 

Banking- and Currency — Beebe of Minnehaha, 
Jessup of Faulk, Andrus of Hamlin, Goddard of Mc- 
Cook, Stone of Potter, Cranmer of Edmunds, Alexan- 
der of Campbell. 

Amendments and Revisions of the Constitution — 
Dow of Brown, Corson of Lawrence, Ashton of Rob- 
erts, Britton of Spink, Reed of Sully, Stone of Potter, 
Giiford of Minnehaha. 

Schedule — Campbell of Yankton, Kellam of 
Brule, Dollard of Bon Homme, Ward of Hughes, 
Booth of Custer, Kanouse of Sanborn, Neill of Grant, 
Lansing- of Hand, Patten of Miner, Coffin of Beadle, 
Huntley of Jerauld, Conniff of McCook, McGrath of 
Lake. 

Miscellaneous Subjects — Alexander of Campbell, 
White of Brookings, Mason of Brown, Brown of Buf- 
falo, Elfes of Charles Mix, Schultz of Clay, Gunder- 
son of Jerauld. 



'27H FO"R]vriNCr A STATE' GOiNTSTrTUTrOlSF 

Compensation of Public Officers — Brooking-s of 
Minnehaha^ Snow of Bon irJomme, Lajbourn of 
Brown, Phillips of La%vrence, Taylor of Liflicoln, Cle- 
land of Clay, Lo-wthian of Grant. 

Arrangement and Phraseology of the Constitu- 
tion — Wa:rd of Yankton, Moody of Lawrence, More 
of Beadle, Lichtenwallerof Hug^hes, Myers of Spink,, 
Neill of Grant, Walton of Bi'ooking-s, Williams of 
Hand, Wrig-ht of Lake. 

Manufactures and Agriculture — Myers of Spink^ 
Gregory O'f Brule, Brown of Buffalo, Kendall of Un- 
ion, Conniff of McCook, P.erdahl of Minnehaha, Stone 
of Potter, Pendleton of Sully, Lowe of Deuel. 

Engrossment and Enrollment — Potter of Wal- 
worth, Pendleton of Sully, Sheets of Kingsbury, Dahl 
of Union, McGrath of Lake. 

Expenses of the Convention — Fellows of Aurora, 
Murphy of Hanson, Snow of Bon Homme, Weather- 
wax of Beadle, Gregory of Brule. 

Preamble— Updyke of Codington^ Parker of Law- 
rence, Berdahl of Minnehaha, Williams of Hand,. 
Britton of Spink. 

This convention contained several members who 
were prominent in the membership of the convention 
of 1883; was in session eighteen days and the consti- 
tution framed by it was largely similar to the one 
framed by that convention, except in arrangement 
and phraseology, and particularity in elaborating the 
general propositions of the earlier instrument. Aside 
from this the constitution of 1885 differed from the 
one of 1883 in providing- that the legislature might 
pass a law giving three fourths of a jury in a civil 
case in any court the rig^ht to determine its verdict, 
granting the legislature power to abolish grand ju- 
ries, prohibiting- private property from being taken 



FO'RMmc; A STATK coKSTiTimo-N '27'> 

•or daniag-ed without just compensation to be ascer' 
.taincd by a jury and paid before possession taken^ 
j^roviding- that the fee of land taken for railroad 
tracks or other hi jj;-!.! ways shall remain in the '0\N'^cr 
of the land subject to the iise for which it was taken-, 
g-iving- soldiers in time of v/ar the rig-ht to vote at 
■their posts of ^.uty, raakifng- all g'eiaeral elections bi- 
ennial, increasing- the nuniber of members wf the leg-* 
islature so that the house should not have more than 
one hundred and thirty-five nor less than sefent^'-five 
as against not more -than one hundred nor less than 
fifty five in the constitution oii 1S83 and in the senate 
not more than forty-five nor less than twenty-five as 
against not more than thirty-three nor less than 
twenty-five in the constitution of 1883, 

The constitution of 1885 differed from the earlier 
one also in allowing- the governor to call on tke judg-- 
es of the supreme court for their opinion under speci- 
fied conditions; in limiting- the stater's estimated ordi- 
nary expenses to a two mill tax and any deficiency 
therein to a tax of the same amount, and in limiting 
to one hundred thousand dollars the power of the 
state to contract an indebtedness instead of five hund- 
red thousand dollars; provisions that have not justi- 
fied the hopes of the convention that they would be 
in the interest of rigid economy, judging- by the op- 
eration of the two mill levy provision for deficiencies 
and the anticipation treasury warrant system by 
which warrants are issued, or provided to be issued, 
after the current tax is levied and before it is collect- 
ed. The constitution of 1883 fixed the salaries of 
governor, treasurer, auditor, superintendent of public 
instruction, secretary of state, attorney general and 
lieutenant governor each at a modest sum, until oth- 
erwise provided by law, whereas these salaries are 



280 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

lixed absolutely in the constittition of 1885, with the 
rig-ht of the leg"islature after the year one thousand 
eight hundred and ninet}' to increase the annual sal- 
ary of the g-oyernor and each of the judg-es of the su- 
preme court to three thousand dollars and the salary 
of the circuit judg"es to two thousand five hundred 
dollars, while the salary of the attorney general, who 
should be capable to till the executive or either of the 
judicial offices, remains fixed at the sum of one thous- 
and dollars until the constitution shall be amended, 
which the people refused to consent to at a general 
election not very long- ago. 

In another important respect the constitvition of 
1885 through its schedule differed from that of 1883, 
it provided for the election at the same time the 
constitution should be voted on of state and judicial 
officers, representatives in congress, state senators 
and representatives in the leg-islature, the formation 
of the state g-overnment, the location of the tempora- 
ry seat of government and the election of United 
States senators. It also provided that the governor, 
representatives in cong-ress and United States sena- 
tors should, together with two other persons to be se- 
lected by the state executive committee, constitute a 
committee whose duty it should be, in case of the rat- 
ification of the constitution by the people, to present 
it to the president and congress of the United States 
and request admission of the state thereunder into the 
Union. 

The republican state convention was held at 
Huron, on October 21st, 1885, and placed in nomina- 
tion a state ticket as follows: For congress, Oscar S. 
Gilford and Theodore Kanouse; governor, Arthur C. 
Mellette; lieutenant governor, A. K. Frank; secreta- 
ry of state, Hug-h S. Murphy; auditor, Frank Alex- 



FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 281 

a,nder; treasurer, D. W. Dig-g-s; attorney g-eneral. 
Robert Dollard; superintendent of schools, A. Sher- 
idan Jones; commissioner of school and public lands, 
W. H. H. Beadle; judg-es of the supreme court, A. 
G. Kellam, Dig-hton Corson and John E. Bennett. 
No democratic ticket was nominated. The election 
occurred on November 3d following, at which the re- 
publican candidates for state and legislative offices 
were elected and the temporary seat of government 
located at Huron. Thirty-one thousand six hundred 
and fifty-two votes were cast, the consti.ii. '>n receiv- 
ing twenty-five thousand one hundred and thirty-two 
votes, opposed six thousand five hundred and twent}'- 
two. 

The legislature convened at Huron December 15 
following the election and organized with Thomas V. 
Eddy as speaker of the house. The legislature com- 
pleted its organization and elected Hon. Alonzo J. 
Edgerton and Hon. Gideon C. Moody United States 
senators. 

In the early part of the following year, Hon. Gid- 
eon C. Moody, Hon. Alonzo J. Edgerton, Hon. Theo- 
dore D. Kanouse and Hon. Arthur C. Mellette joined 
Hon. Oscar S. Gifford, then delegate in congress, at 
Washington and urged the admission of the state 
before congressional committees, and the senate, 
which was republican, passed a bill for its admission 
while the house, which was democratic, considered 
bills for the recognition of the constitution, for the 
admission of the territory as a whole, for the division 
of the territory without admission and for division 
on the Missouri river, and thus the movement for the 
immediate admission of the proposed state ended, so 
far as the power of that congress could control its 
destin}'^, but the movement was kept alive in Dakota 



282 FORMING A STATE CONSTITUTION 

and the deleg-ates of the territory to the repub- 
lican national convention in 1888 were charg-ed to re- 
new the battle there and succeeded in securing- an 
endorsement in the platform for the admission of 
both South and North Dakota as states of the Union. 

The territorial deleg^ates to the national conven- 
tion were Hon. Gideon C. Moody, Hon. J. M. Bailey, 
Hon. T. O. Bog-ert, Hon. B. H. Sullivan, Georg-e W. 
Hopp and Colonel Plummer. The election of the 
nominee, General Benjamin Harrison, who had been 
the persistent friend of the southern Dakota move- 
ment in the United States senate, settled the matter 
by stimulating- congress to such an extent that it 
passed a bill for the admission of South and North 
Dakota, Montana and Washing-ton which was signed 
by President Cleveland on the 22nd of February 1889, 
and provided that conventions to frame constitutions 
for the four states should be convened on the 4th day 
of July next thereafter. 

The constitution made for the proposed state of 
Dakota in 1885, was adopted by a large majority, 
with an amendment chang-ing" the name to South Da- 
kota, fixing- the northern boundary on the seventh 
standard parallel; and chang-ing the legislative and 
judicial apportionment, so that the labors of the Can- 
ton convention of 1882, of the Huron convention of 
1883, and of the constitutional conventions at Sioux 
Falls in 1883 and 1885, finally resulted not only in se- 
curing the admission of South Dakota into the Union, 
but in contributing an indispensable force to open the 
way for the admission of North Dakota, Montana and 
Washington as well into the sisterhood of states. 

Of the state and judicial officers elected in 1885, 
Hon. Arthur C. Mellette was re-elected governor, 
Robert Dollard attorney general, Hon. A. G. Kel- 



FORMING A STATK CONSTITUTION 283 

lam, Hon. Dig-hton Corson and Hon. John E. Bennett 
supreme court judges, and Hon. Gideon C. Moody 
was re-elected United States senator and Hon. Oscar 
S. Gifford as representative to cong^ress, Hon. Alonzo 
J. Edg-erton becoming- United States district judg-e 
for the new state. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. 

During" my experience in Dakota, particularly in 
my Doug-las county experience, where thousands of 
miles were traveled across a wild and thinl}^ populated 
country, I often journeyed not only like Macbeth's 
witches "in thunder, lig-htning-, wind and rain" but also 
in violent sleet and snow storms and in the most in- 
tense heat of summer as well as in the severest winter 
blasts, and I had often been told by the old timers of 
the blizzard which Custer ran into in the spring- of 
1874 at Yankton, when enroute to the North-West 
where he engaged in the campaig^n which resulted in 
the massacre of himself and his command. I had 
heard stories told about the practice of connecting 
dwelling- houses and stables by ropes for one to take 
hold of so as not to lose the way when g-oing- between 
them and wander off, perhaps to death, in the blinding: 
storm, but I could never g-et over the idea that these 
stories were drawn to a considerable extent from the 
imag-inations of the story tellers until on January 12, 
1888, we were visited for the only time in twenty- 
seven years, since I came to Dakota, by a g-enuine 
blizzard which eliminated from the minds of those 
who doubted the wonderful stories of the old settlers, 
the notion that they were indebted to fancy for any 
part of them. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS 285 

When the storm came on I was sitting' in my of- 
fice, about noon; it was quite warm in the begfinning- 
and the damp snow flakes fell in the ordinary man- 
ner, but soon they beg-an to gfrow smaller until the}' 
filled the air so full that I could not see into the street 
on which my office was located. About 4 o'clock in 
the afternoon I started down the street and losing- my 
way in gfoing- a block or two I dropped into a hotel to 
wait for an improvement in conditions and remained 
there for an hour without seeing- any chang-e; then I 
started for home, about a half mile away, and found 
the air so full of snow that I could not "see my hand 
before me." The wind was now blowing- fiercely and 
it was g-rowing- colder rapidly. I found my way by 
following- the sidewalk, where it was blown clear of 
the snow, and by fences along- the walk until I 
came to a block where the snow had banked up to the 
fence where I floundered the leng-th of the block by 
feeling- my way in the snow along- the top of the 
fence. I was then within one hundred feet of my 
dwelling- but could not see through the thickly fall- 
ing- snow the distance of a yard, and as there was 
nothing- to guide me in safety and I was sure to lose 
my way and g-o off in the open country, perhaps to 
death, if I started before there was a rift in the thick 
air I determined to return to my ofiice rather than 
risk my life, by attempting- to cross the hundred feet 
that divided me from my home, but while I was med- 
itating- retreat the rift came, I could see my dwelling- 
plainly and in a few seconds I was safe within its 
walls, but for an hour after I panted with exhaustion. 

At the time the storm beg-an and throug-hout the 
earlier part of the day it was so warm that many peo- 
ple were abroad without preparation for it or for the 
intense cold that came in the evening- and the nig-ht 



286 MISCELLANEOUS OBSEKVATIONS 

following-, and large numbers were frozen to death. 
In this — Bon Homme — county, a small county of 
hardly more than fourteen congressional townships, 
nineteen persons perished; as the population was not 
more than seven or eight thousand, this loss was 
larger in percentage than that reported of the recent 
great disaster of the San Francisco earthquake. 

In my service as attorney general of the state I 
was called on in 1S91 to assist the states attorney of 
a Black Hills county, and the United States attorney 
for this state, in prosecuting several white men for 
killing an Indian chief of the Pine Ridge Indians 
shortly after the battle of "Wounded Knee, in the west- 
ern part of our state in 1890, between the Indians and 
the United States troops. The trial was at Sturgis, 
the county seat of Meade county, in the lower partof 
which the killing- was done. Judge Thomas, an able 
and chivalrous Kentuckian and v/arm hearted gentle- 
man, who had vv-orn the gray in our civil war, was 
on the bench, and we were sure of a fearless admin- 
istration of justice on his part, notwithstanding the 
strong anti-Indian feeling- remaining in that country- 
si nee the days of the Custer massacre. Before this 
trial came on, an Indian of the same band as that to 
whicli the dead chief belonged had been tried in the 
United States court for killing- Lieutenant Casey on 
the Pine Ridge reservation, and had been acquitted 
on the ground that there was a state of war between 
the general government and the Indians at that time, 
and the accused Indian was within his rights in kill- 
ing Casey as a spy, and this did not increase our 
chances of convicting white men for killing an Indi- 
an. In fact we, the United States attorney and my- 
self were met on our arrival in Sturgis by a gentle- 
man who was a member of the grand jurj' which in- 



MISCELLANHOUS OBSEKVATIONS 287 

dieted the men we wore about to prosecute, and told 
that we mig-ht as well g'O home, that wc could not 
convict them, that if the Indian who killed Casey had 
only been convicted then we could convict, and he sat 
with the defendants throughout the trial as evidence 
of his sympathy with them and hostility to the pros- 
ecution. The jury selected was a body of strong-, 
fair faced men, old timers who knew by experience 
what life on the frontier with hostile Indians ready to 
break in upon them with the tomahawk and scalping 
knife meant, and the outlook was not flattering. The 
members of the jury each pledged himself to try the 
case the same as thoug-h it was a trial of white men 
for killing a white man, to g-ive the same effect to the 
testimony of an Indian that he would g"ive to that of 
a white person under similar circumstances, and to 
try the case fairly and impartially according to the 
law and the evidence. We spent about two weeks in 
the trial of the case and thought our evidence war- 
ranted conviction but the jury disagreed; it stood 
eleven for acquittal on the first ballot, and it was re- 
ported that the eleven wanted to throw the twelfth 
man out of the window for disagreeing with them. 
The grand juror referred to was an interesting char- 
acter; he too was an old timer and a sympathetic 
friend of the unfortunate. A man in his neighbor- 
hood had been sent to the penitentiary for killing an- 
other and an effort was being made to secure his re- 
lease, and I was asked to do what I could officially in 
the matter, the ex-grand juror saying in his personal 
appeal: "He is a good Christian man and never did 
anything wrong." He was a good Christian man and 
never did anything wrong but kill a fellow man. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



POLITICAL NOTES. 



In the order of political development, election to 
the last territorial council — the upper house of the 
territorial legislature — came to me in the fall of 188S, 
and mj experience at the following- session was most 
agreeable; the certainty that the north and south 
halves of the territory were soon to part company 
seemed to have a harmonizing- effect, and the g-ood 
fellowship that prevailed among; the members was 
in strongs contrast with the hostility between the 
north and south in former sessions, beg-inning- with 
the movement to load the capital of the territory on 
the band wag-on of the capital commission. In this 
last territorial leg-islature were John Miller and Rog-- 
er AUin, both since g-overnors of North Dakota, S. L. 
Glaspell a circuit judg-e of that state, Frank Aikin 
later a territorial supreme court judg-e and circuit 
judg-e of South Dakota, Frank J. Washabaug-h and 
Albert Campbell who also became circuit judg-es of 
the latter state, and Coe I. Crawford who became at- 
torney g-eneral of the same state and who will be its 
next g-overnor. 

After the state of South Dakota was admitted 
into the Union I served two terms as its attorney gen- 
eral and had much ag-reeable and important experi- 
ence with leading- lawyers of the state in represent- 



POLITICAL NOTES 28*) 

ing its interests before the supreme court as well as 
with the members of the state g-overnment, which is 
all held in kind and pleasing remembrance, with the 
single exception of mj connection with the funding" 
warrant act passed in 1891. At that time the state 
had exhausted its power to create a debt, its current 
revenue would not pay running expenses, and was 
short to such an extent that its warrants were being 
hawked about on the streets of the capital at a dis- 
count. I remembered that in former leg^al explora- 
tions I learned that Chicago once finding- itself in the 
same predicament passed an ordinance providing for 
the issue of warrants on its treasurer, after a tax 
should be levied, and in anticipation thereof, which 
put it on a cash basis at once, so, as the law officer of 
the state I drew the bill for the act referred to. placed 
the action of the state treasurer under the supervision 
of the governor and state auditor to the end that 
he should be permitted to issue no more warrants 
than were necessary to take up such other warrants 
as had been legally issued, and supported the bill 
with, a leg-al opinion to the legislature citing author- 
ities in its favor. The bill was passed and went 
into effect at once with an emergency clause, the 
state treasurer was thereafter able to pay the state's 
current obligations in cash, and that has been true 
ever since the act became a law. In explaining the 
measure to the state treasurer I said to him, this 
will be a dangerous law in the hands of dishonest 
management, and he looked at me with a kind of a 
stare that came back to me when it developed that he 
was short in his accounts three hundred and fortv- 
four thousand and seventy dollars, and about tAvo 
hundred and thirty thousand dollars of it was taken 
from the general fund and the deficiency fund, both 



290 POLITICAL NOTES 

of which the funding- law was intended to relieve 
when the taxes due them were unpaid. Whether the 
defalcation would have occurred had the constitution 
provided a less narrow limit on the power of taxation 
or g-iven a greater power to contract indebtedness is 
in the domain of speculation, but, as the treasurer 
embezzled at least one hundred and fourteen thous- 
and dollars that had no relation to the funding law, 
it is probable that it would. 

In the fall preceding the close of my second term 
as attorney g-eneral I became a candidate before the 
republican state convention for governor; there were 
seven contestants and I came out third in the 
race. The old soldier and the farmer sentiment com- 
bined to rule the convention, and aided two other some- 
what better farmers than I to run ahead of me; one of 
them had the misfortune to succeed in the election 
and to be at the head of the state when its treasurer 
plundered it as I have stated. Here my experience 
in farming in Douglas county came into play. I 
had proven clearly that I was not the kind of a farmer 
the convention was looking- for to make a governor 
out of, but the reason some of the boys advanced why 
I should not be nominated was that my county had 
gone democratic at the last preceding election, so I 
went home and asked its republicans to elect me to 
the state senate on that issue and they did so. Later 
I served in the house when the county was solid for 
the republican ticket, as it had been since I was 
elected to the senate, while the state joined the Bry- 
an presidential procession, and still later I became a 
candidate for congress with very fair prospects of 
success, and the assurance of a king bee of the par- 
ty, who had been a warm personal friend for many 
years and was an effective gleaner in the field of 



POLITICAL NOTES 291 

politics, that he would do me the best service he was 
capable of—which a mutual friend afterwards sug- 
ji^ested was, from his standpoint, to manag-e so that 
I would not be burdened with the office— while he 
was laboring- quietly, but dilig-entlj, with the oppo- 
sition and became its successful band wag-on candi- 
date for temporary chairman of the convention. 
The contest was between the "machine" and "anti 
machine" so called, and the "machine" proved to be 
the best machine of the two. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

JOURNEYING TO THB PACfFIC. 



Drawing- near to that time of life when the g-low- 
ing- stories of the delig-htful climate, beautiful flowers 
and song- birds of a southern California winter pre- 
sent an irresistible appeal to enjoy them for a season, 
my better half and I left Scotland for Los Angeles, 
California, early in January, 1905, going- by way of 
St. Paul and over the Northern Pacific and Southern 
Pacific railroads. When we left St. Paul the weather 
was intensely cold— twenty-four deg-rees belov/ zero — 
and there was not much improvement until we passed 
beyond the Rocky Mountains. We had seen some- 
thing- of the AUeghanies, and the Green and White 
mountains, but the peaks of the Rockies and Coast 
Rang-e mountains, robed in eternal snow, were to be a 
revelation to us such as our imag-ination had never 
been able to reach, notwithstanding the descriptions 
we had often read of them. We had traveled quite 
extensively from the British American boundary on 
the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south, between 
the upper Missouri, the Black Hills, the western 
boundary of Nebraska and Kansas and the Atlantic 
ocean, but the bad lands in western North Dakota, 
Crazy Mountain away to the north about fifty miles 
from the railroad near the junction of its line that 
runs into Yellowstone Park, which at first presents 



JOURNEYING TO THE PACIFIC 293 

the appearance of a vast cloud, Mount Ranier, near 
Tacoma, Mount Hood near Portland, and Mount Shas- 
ta near the northern line of California, were marvel- 
ous, compared with anything- we had witnessed in 
previous experience, and the climatic change was 
equally wonderful, beginning- with the warmth, run- 
ning streams and open lakes among the hills of Idaho, 
and ending with the blooming roses, geraniums, calla 
lillies and other flowers, and the songs of the mock- 
ing- birds and other birds in southern California. Our 
return trip over the Santa Fe through Arizona, New^ 
Mexico, Colorado and Kansas was interesting, and 
nature's upheavals in the former territory seem to 
have been similar to those of the bad lands of North 
and South Dakota. 

We repeated our trip the following winter going- 
out by way of the Santa Fe and returning by waj' 
of the Southern and Northern Pacific and on our out- 
ward journey stopped over at Williams and visited 
the Grand Canon of Colorado, and here is a descrip- 
tion of it from the pen of one who has done poetic 
justice to its grand and imposing features: 

"There is probably nothing- in the world to ex- 
ceed in beauty, wonder and sublimity the trip to the 
Grand Canon of the Colorado. This river rises in 
the Rocky Mountains, and flows through Colorado 
and Arizona touching- Utah, Nevada and California, 
cutting its way throug-h strata millions of years old, 
until it finds the sea level in the Gulf of California. 

"The first view of this mighty chasm is truly 
awful. Standing upon its brink, the eye wanders 
first over a vast pile of mountain peaks cut into cu- 
rious shapes and worn into the semblance of grotesque 
forms and figures. Then, as the eye becomes accus- 
tomed to the g-reat depth, he beholds the river itself, 



294 JOURNEYING TO THE PACIFIC 

a seeming-ly tiny stream, yellow as gold, and wind- 
ing- its tortuous way a mile and a quarter beneath his 
feet. 

"To adequately describe the Grand Canon is an 
utter impossibilit}^ One can but attempt to describe 
its impressions upon him; but the mysterious g'lory, 
the strange sensations of insignificance which one 
feels can only be felt — not told. It is easy to say 
that the Canon is a mile and a quarter deep and from 
wall to wall across the top the distance is thirteen 
miles. That all means but little. Think rather that 
Mt. Washington and the whole Presidential Range 
might be tipped into it and leave room at the top for 
more; the grand cataract of Niagara could be seen 
only with a powerful glass if it were at the bottom, 
while the giant redv/oods of California would appear 
like toy trees if viewed from the brink. The river 
itself is larger than the Hudson, yet it looks like a 
tiny brook, while on either side rise the sculptured 
walls — sculptured by that most wonderful of all art- 
ists — Nature, and the tool with which she worked 
was the most wonderful chisel the world has ever 
known — water. 

"But now let us see why this Colorado River is 
so strange, why it so far exceeds all other rivers in 
the world of wonders. In the early ag-es of our con- 
tinent when our eastern hills were young mountains, 
and our western mountains were in their childhood, a 
great sea stretched from the Rockies to the Sierra 
Nevada Mountains and the slopes were sandy beaches 
not unlike those of New Jersey and New England to- 
day. There we find today the mark of the ripples of 
that ancient sea far up the mountain sides. Now 
slowly all that lake was raised, together with the 
mountains about it. The water drained off to the 



JOURNEYING TO THE PACIFIC 29n 

sea throug-h the present water courses, leaving- a 
plateau eight thousand feet above the sea level, ov^er 
which today the sand of that ancient sea is blown in- 
to drifts and in parts of which no human being- is 
ever seen. But as the plateau was raised the rivers 
must find an outlet and the}' cut through the solid 
rock keeping pace to the rising- land. Then great 
lava streams flowed out over the surface and the 
whole was folded and bent by the mig-hty forces of 
the internal heat of the earth. This is a large story 
to comprehend at a g-lance and as the eye wanders 
over the surface of the walls of the Canon, and the 
wonderful colors stand out before him, if he can read 
the story there outspread he may study the history- of 
all the ag-es upon the open pag-e, from the dark trap 
rock to the lig-hter sandstones, linjestones, marbles 
and g-ranites. Scarcely a color but is found there; 
every shade of g"rey, lavender, red, brown and yellow, 
even to pure white. These colors are often in straight 
parallel lines sometimes so twisted and bent that one 
cannot trace their beg-inning and end. This wonder 
of color does, in part, compensate for the lack of fo- 
liag-e and forest. This is a land of rock, not of soil. 

"But the river itself — that innocent-looking- 
stream — what shall we find it like when we have 
climbed down those precipitous sides? Seated on its 
marg-in we find it a rushing, roaring torrent, sweep- 
ing on, in many places, more rapidU' than the Rapids 
of Niagara and bringing with it the waste that it has 
torn from the mountains and which it will spread out 
on the shore of the Gulf. 

"At dawn when the rising sun dispels the mists 
about the temples and shrines of the Canon, or when 
the sunset lines touch the eastern peaks and turrets 
with pink and gold, the scene is one of such marvel- 



2% JOURNEYING TO THE PACIFIC 

ous beauty that the soul reaches to look 'througfh 
Nature to Nature's God.' But it is when the white 
moonlig-ht streams down into those stormy depths 
that the Canon takes on an atmosphere of niysterj 
which can never be forg^otten. The temples and cas- 
tles of the sunlig"ht seem tenanted with wierd hosts 
of vmknowable being's silently keeping* watch and 
ward over this, the g^reatest work of our gTeat moth- 
er—Nature." 

On our last trip to Los Ang-eles I had the pleas- 
ant experience of meeting- and making- the acquaint- 
ance of Hon. C. C. Cole, a native of the state of New 
York, "a forty niner" in California, a representative 
in cong-ress during- the war from that state, and later 
a United States senator. He was a schoolmate of 
Judg-e Edg-erton, and the judge often spoke of him to 
me, and he is the brother of General Geo. W. Cole, 
to whom this book is dedicated. 

On returning- from southern California this time 
we stopped over at San Francisco several days and 
were fortunate in leaving- there a short time before 
the arrival of the earthquake. 



c D Unlnluro 



